My Mother's Secret
by seritha
Summary: Ellie has just turned nineteen and is forced to marry the crown prince, Jason, so what happens when her mother reveals a secret that she has hid for years? A problem that threatens the whole family. 24!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: A Meeting

"Wake up Ellie!"

"Go away Laci!"

Suddenly Ellie toppled out of her bed and hit the ground with a resounding thunk. Groaning she got to her feet. "LACI!"

"I told you to get up! No you had to do it your way."

"I was not doing it _my_ way at all. I just wanted to sleep."

"Well its already past noon as is and we have to meet the royal family in an less than an hour! Father will be furious if any of us are late."

Ellie grinned at her sister. "What does it matter now?"

"Well father still wants all of us to make an appearance at least."

"I will whenever I feel like it."

"Alright but father won't be pleased at all."

"Is he ever?" Laci laughed before leaving the room. Ellie got to her feet and crawled back into her bed. Suddenly the door burst open and Rian jumped into the bed.

"Come on Ellie! You have to come! I don't want to face any of those nobles by myself!"

"RIAN! You aren't by yourself you have the rest of them with you."

"Oh please Ellie! I don't want to go!"

Ellie groaned and sat up. "Why can i never get a decent sleep in this house?"

"Because you are the one who keeps us all in line that is why. Now come on!" Moaning Ellie got out of bed and got ready for the meeting.

One hour later...

Rian dragged Ellie into the large entrance. Laci smirked at Ellie as she took her customary place in line. Covering a yawn she watched their father pace. The sound of a carriage soon met their ears as it pulled up in front of the house. Ellie could hardly stay awake she was so tired. Their father suddenly straightened as the King and Queen headed up the steps, their two sons and three daughters following behind them.

"Your Majesties it is so good to have you come. "

"It is a pleasure to be here again," the queen said happily.

"It is my honor to introduce you to my daughters. Laci, my oldest, May, Sara, Olria, Anne, Talya, Tammy, Ellie, Ilaine, Nora, Tallie, Gira, and Rian." Each daughter bowed at the mention of their name.

"Thirteen Richard however did you manage?"

"I'm not quite sure but I wouldn't trade them for the world."

"Well Richard these are our children. The Crown Prince and heir to the throne Jason, Kai, Molly, Matt, and Olivia." The sons bowed and the daughters curtsied at their names.

"Well lunch is ready if you will follow us."

The large party headed out to the dinning area. Just before the sisters entered Laci stopped the sisters. "I expect all of you to be on your best behaviors."

"We know all of this Laci! Can we go eat now?" Ellie complained to her sister.

"Yes go." Just as Ellie was going to walk into the room Laci grabbed her arm.

"What?"

"Ellie I know you dislike all of this and all but please will you listen to me for once?"

"I do listen to you Laci but this isn't going to affect us only you and May."

"For all you know it could but please will you help?"

"I will help Laci but I don't see why you picked me!"

"Because out of all of us you are the most level headed of us. You know how our younger sisters look up to you and even us older ones do as well."

"I dont see why you do, I'm nothing special."

"Don't degrade yourself Ellie you are." Ellie hugged her sister tightly. "Alright come along."

On entering the room Ellie was discouraged to find that the only available seat was next to Prince Jason. Sighing inwardly she went to take here seat. Once she sat the food was served. Talk soon buzzed around her and she paid little attention to it. "Ellie?"

"What?" Ellie turned her head and looked at her little sister.

"What's wrong you've hardly touched your food?" Ellie smiled at Rian.

"Its nothing to fret about Rian. Did you get the letter?"

"From mother?" Ellie nodded her head. "Yes I did! Can you believe we get to spend a whole month with her?"

Ellie laughed quietly. "I can believe it and I do."

"When do we get to leave?"

"At the end of this week." Rian clapped her hands enthusiastically gaining a look from the Queen while Ellie tried to hide her smile. "Eat little one." Rian nodded and continued to eat.

It was only ten minutes later before Ellie got tired of the company. Whispering quietly to Rian Ellie excused herself from the table and preceded outside into the cool days air. Ellie headed straight for the lake and a certain oak tree that she loved. On her way through the garden Ellie couldnt help but sing one of her more favorite songs unaware of another occupant.

Jason had gotten tired of the chatter of lunch and chose to explore the grounds. He was just on his way out to the lake when he heard singing. Curious as to who sang so magnificently he went to see who it was. To his surprise it was Ellie, who he had sat by earlier at lunch. It seemed that the rumors had been true. That Ellie and her younger sister, Rian, had a mother that had never married Duke Richard. This news sparked his interests more now. "Lady Ellie?"

Ellie jumped startled by his voice. "Oh Prince Jason," quickly she curtsied to him.

"Oh please no formalities."

"Alright."

"I am sorry that I startled you I just heard you singing."

"Oh..."

"You have a beautiful singing voice."

"Thank you. I am surprised you are out here, I thought you would be in speaking with one of my sisters."

"Well I got tired of being inside for so long, though I am glad that I came out here."

"Oh why?"

"I have found good company."

Ellie couldn't help the blush that rose on her cheeks. "I don't believe you have met my sister May then, she is much more interesting than me."

"I am not so sure about that. Do all your sisters speak their minds or turn as red as you?" This only caused Ellie to turn red even more.

"I don't know I am afraid."

"Would you care to join me? Maybe you can show me around here."

"I suppose I could," she mumbled quietly.

The two made their way around the estates stopping in the end at the lake. Slipping off her shoes Ellie proceded to walk ankle deep into the cool water. Jason watched her with interest. Her brown hair was pulled back and with the sun glinting off her hair it showed a slight reddish tint.

"I take it you like the lake?"

"I _love_ the lake. I usually come out here if I have had a lot to do or I just need a break."

"I can see why its very nice out here." Jason said as she sat down with his back against the oak tree. Ellie smiled and tilted her head upward. "Do you see your mother often?"

"Not as often as Rian and I would hope but we do spend time with her. Rian is more excited since this will be her first birthday that she will be with mother."

"How old is she?"

"She will be turning sixteen here soon. How old are you by the way?"

"I am just twenty-one."

"I expected you to be a bit older actually."

"Most would make it out that way but I am just twenty-one. How old are you?"

"Nineteen." Ellie waded out of the water and took a seat next to Jason. "How long do you all plan to stay?"

"Till the end of next week."

"I am sorry to say I will be leaving soon."

"Then I will have to spend twice as much time with you to make up for it of course." Ellie raised and eyebrow at him, smirking slightly.

"I don't think you could possibly keep up with me."

"Oh?"

"Trust me you'd have more fun with one of my sisters."

"I like a challenge."

"You won't if you go against me."

"I am up to it my lady."

"Alright then tomorrow dawn meet me at the stables."

"Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A challenge

A knock on her door woke Ellie up. Groaning she rolled over. "We are not going through this again"

"I prefer to actually get some rest Laci!"

"Ellie if you don't open this door I will hurt you!" Rian cried.

"Please don't tell me _all_ of you are out there!"

"Well if it pleases you then we won't but we are!" May called to her sister.

"I'm not coming go entertain the guests as you please!"

"Father won't be happy if you don't show up." Nora called.

The door swung open and Rian tackled her sister. "Rian!" The others laughed at the two.

"Now come on before we are late!" Laci snapped.

After ten minutes Ellie was walking beside her younger sister towards the dinning area. To their surprise they ran into the royal family. Kai was the first to spot them, though they were hard to miss. She nudged her brother who immediatly turned to look at them.

"Good morning ladies. I trust you all slept well."

"Yes we did I hope you all slept well?" Ellie hid her head to cover a yawn.

Gira came sprinting down the halls. "Rian! Ellie!" The two sisters turned. Not far behind her came three younger girls.

"Hanna! Sally! Katrina!" The two sisters cried as their younger sisters sprinted down the hall. Bending over Ellie caught all three girls in her arms.

The other girls knelt to hug each of them in turn. Everyone was talking excitedly. Risa soon came down the hall. "Mother!" The five of them cried together. The three younger sisters ran to their mother while the two elder ones went slower.

"Alright, alright lets go eat." Richard called followed by the King and Queen. As they made their way to the dinning hall Jason caught Ellie's arm stopping her. They waited till the others were gone before they turned to face each other.

"You didn't show up this morning," Jason said blatantly.

"Show up for what?"

"For what? I thought you were going to challenge me!"

"Oh that! Well you'll have to forgive me I had other things to worry about then the challanging of a prince!"

"You make it seem as if my being royalty means nothing to you."

"Should it? As far as I am concerned I shall be only seeing you this week and then I will not have to worry about you!"

"You give your opinion very decidely do you not?"

"I was always told to speak my mind and I don't intend to change that for _you_."

"Even if I could have you beheaded for speaking to me so?" Jason questioned.

Ellie laughed. "Oh yes and how would that look to your people? Their future king beheading a woman for speaking back to you! That would look _very_ bad on your part."

"Like you could ever understand the life of a royal!" He snapped.

"I don't need to! I am a Lady and that is all I care to be! I will however respect my King and my country but as for now you are not my king and therefore I shall not show you any respect unless you do the same!"

Jason held her gaze for a long time. "One day you will think differently."

"Then that day shall be far in the future."

"Are you so sure?" Ellie narrowed her eyes searching his eyes.

"Yes! I would never _want_ to be royalty! Besides you are a snob and ignorant jerk!"

"I suggest you watch your tongue!"

"Yes sure thing!" She told him rolling her eyes.

"You know you are a selfish brat!"

"What gave you the impression I am selfish! As far as I am concerned you know _nothing_ about _me!_"

"And you know nothing about _me_."

Ellie laughed and pushed the hair from her eyes. "You forget I have many _many _friends at court!" With that Ellie turned and walked off. Yes she would challenge him but it wasn't what he was expecting!

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Jason was furious. Moving quickly he caught up with her grabbing her arm. "What afraid to tell me what you friends at court say about the heir to the throne?"

Ellie raised her eyebrow. "Oh poor little prince afraid of what the women have to say about him?"

"I am curious to know what they have said to make you dislike me so."

"It was never what was said but its more how you have acted." He met her light blue eyes with his dark green ones. To his surprise he saw a hint of amusement in her eyes. _What is she up to?_

"What would you like to me to do redeem myself?"

Amusement lit her blue eyes instantly. "Oh you should never had asked me that! To amuse myself I will have to request you do something for me."

"What would that be?"

"That you have to oh I don't know fall all over one of my sisters! I don't care which one but you have to do one."

"So my choice out of all of you?"

"Yes, yes your choice. Tomorrow though the whole day." She said with a smile as she walked off. Jason let her go and grinned from ear-to-ear. He had just outsmarted her. After all she did agree that he could choose out of _all_ of them and he knew exactly which one he would pick.

"Jason?" She called back having stopped at the end of the hall. Shaking his head he ran to catch up with her. To his amusement the only two seats that were left were side-by-side. He made sure to move to her seat and pull it out getting a raised eyebrow from her. Taking his seat the food was then served.

"So tell me Risa where is your husband?" Jason overheard Richard ask. Not wanting anyone to know he was listening he kept his eyes downcast.

"He is at home busy with the raids in our town. I came along with the girls."

"You have come a bit early have you not?"

"I intend to take the girls a bit earlier then was actually planned."

"The King and Queen are here! How can you think of doing something like that?" Richard demanded harshly.

"They are _my_ children! I will do as I please! You have no say in this at all!"

"I have say in this! They are my children as well!"

"I am taking my daughters and that is final!" Risa said as she turned to talk to the Queen. Tilting his head to the side he could see Ellie had not touched her food at all. Slowly he lifted his gaze till she noticed him. The color in her blue eyes had dimmed dramatically. Her face was slightly pale and she shook. "Ellie?" He questioned softly. "I just need some fresh air," she said quickly before she got to her feet and left. Risa looked after her and rose to her feet. Richard grabbed her arm in a tight grip. With an easy motion she detached her arm from his hand.

Jason waited a few moments before he too rose from his chair. Something seemed to be wrong with this family. Someone hid something that was important. Slowly he made his way through the garden. A glint of light caught his attention. An arrow shot out of the trees and dug deep into his arm. "Ah!" He cried as he removed his sword with his good hand. As he shot through the brush he stumbled and fell.

He rolled into a clearing slamming his head against someones legs. Ellie fell backward hitting her arm against the stone bench. "Prince Jason!" Risa and Ellie cried at once.

"What happened?" Ellie questioned. Opening his eyes he was a bit pleased to see she cradled his head in her lap. "I don't know someone shot me with an arrow. I went to follow and I tripped instead." He said as he tried to sit up. Ellie pressed her hands against his chest making him fall back against her.

"I suggest you don't move you will hurt yourself more."

"I will go get the healer," Risa said as she hurried off.

Jason looked up at Ellie whose eyes scanned the area. "That is not normal. Do you have any enemies? Someone who wants to kill you?"

"I am sure there is someone who does but I don't know of any off the top of my head."

Ellie now looked down at him. "You shouldn't have been out here to begin with."

"You were out here."

"I also was with my mother and I know these grounds better than anyone else."

"I do not doubt that."

Ellie's fingers wrapped around the shaft of the arrow. "You can break off the end." Jason mumbled quietly. Moving her other hand she placed it on his shoulder and broke the shaft of the arrow. Groaning he hid his face in her dress.

"It went clean through," she whispered. With one swift pull she freed the arrow from his arm. He clenched his jaw so hard that it ached fiercely. He heard a ripping sound and looked up to see her tearing her dress.

"Don't," was all he could say.

"If I don't stop the bleeding then it will get worse now hold still!" Grudginly he rested his head in her lap again closing his eyes. "Keep your eyes open!" She snapped so suddenly he was forced to do as she bid. He watched her carefully his eyes never leaving her face. When she was done she turned her gaze on him. "Jason?" She questioned but he could not hear here. Suddenly it all went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Trip

Jason's head hurt so fiercely he could barely stand the pain, however, he opened his eyes anyways. It took a few moments before his world stopped spinning. To his surprise he found it dark outside. With a groan he managed to sit upright. Stretching he was shocked to find Ellie curled up in a chair beside his bed. Her brown hair fell into her face hiding much of it from his view. Slowly she rotated in the chair till she was somewhat comfortable. Looking down he saw his side wrapped in bandage. It still hurt him but not so bad.

Suddenly her arm slipped causing her to suddenly wake up. She blinked rapidly as she saw Jason awake. "Oh good you are awake," she said giving him a sleepy smile.

"How long have I been asleep?" He asked noting how hungry he was.

"I believe only a few hours it really hasn't been that long."

"Oh," was his only reply.

"Would you like something to eat? There is some food on the table." She said pointing beside him. Jason smiled before digging into the food left for him. When he was done he smiled when he saw her asleep once more. Resolving that he shouldn't let her sleep in a chair he rose to his feet, pain making it difficult. Sighing he realized the idea to be pointless and impossible. Gritting his teeth he moved to her.

Bending slowly down he lifted her up surprised at how light she actually was. He carried her to where he had lay and set her in his bed, pulling the covers up around her. Satisfied with his sucess he sat on the edge of the bed pale and taking shaky breaths.

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Ellie woke up when the sun slanted in through the window. Mumbling she turned into the figure that lay beside her, hiding her face. It took a moment before she realized there was someone in the same bed as her. Sitting up quickly she realized that she was not in her room or even in her own bed.The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in a chair. Turning her head she found Jason asleep beside her one of his hands entwinded with her own. Frowning she regarded him for a moment. His breathing was normal but his body was shaking slightly.

She moved into a sitting position and felt his forehead. He was slightly warm but nothing unusual. Jason caught her hand and held it tightly in his own. Ellie was slightly startled since he was still asleep. It took Ellie a moment to realize she wasn't the only one in the room. Kai stood gazing out the window. Ellie watched the younger girl for a long moment. Jason still held her hand and didn't seem to be letting go any time soon.

"He's got you trapped doesn't he?" Kai questioned not turning to look at the older girl.

"Yes he does. I guess I have to wait for him to wake up first."

"It may be a while he can sleep for hours."

"Oh great."

"Did you find out?" Kai asked turning now to face Ellie.

"I was told last night. My mother wanted to tell me herself considering everything." Ellie mumbled under her breath.

"So I suppose you will be leaving in two days?"

"We already planned it and I am glad to be heading home."

"Then I do hope you have fun. Don't worry no one will bother you or Jason." Kai said as she turned and left the room. Ellie sighed heavily and fell back against the pillow, within moments she was asleep.

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Jason inhaled deeply enjoying the sweet smell of apples and cinammon. Opening his eyes he found Ellie curled up against him. Her head rested against his chest and one of her arms was wrapped around his waist. He was slightly surprised to find her so close to him considering he had only moved her so she wouldn't be sore the next morning. Slowly he raised himself up but stopped as he realized he lay on his bad arm. He saw a bandage wrapped around her forearm from where she had hit the bench.

She shifted closer to him and sighed in her sleep. Jason smiled realizing it wouldn't be that bad to actually marry her. Sighing himself he pulled her closer with his free arm and rested his head against hers. Sleep, however, didn't come easily to him.

After about twenty minutes he gave up on the idea of sleep. Turning onto his back he shifted Ellie slightly so she wouldn't hurt his arm, though she still moved toward him. He turned his gaze to the ceiling. That arrow wasn't made in this country. There was something off about the whole attack to begin with. He was very close to where Ellie and her mother had sat. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be him. What if it was possible that they were the targets and he had just scared the attacker. That thought didn't comfort him either.

There was a big chance that they were the prime target. So what were they hiding that was so important? He was bound to find out all of this eventually. If he contacted a few friends of his it should only take about a week to get what he needed. If she was the target then the future queen was in major danger.

As if she could sense his discomfort she wrapped her arm around his waist tighter. Turning his head he pushed back her hair so he could see her face. A smile was curved on her lips and she seemed to be having good dreams.

A knock on the door brought him from his thoughts. Kai came into the room smiling when she saw him awake. "Looks like you do have her trapped."  
"More like she has _me_ trapped."

Kai only gave a small laugh. "Well I have bad news. Due to recent events we will be leaving back home and Ellie will be leaving."

Jason sat up catching Ellie as he sat up. Surpriseingly she didn't even wake up. "What! Why?"

"Mother and Father don't think that it is safe enough for us. Risa seems to agree with them and is using this to take _all_ of the daughters to her home."

"I've not even spent time with her! Thats not really fair!" Jason said as he looked down at a sleeping Ellie.

"I think they are just worried about all of it. If you speak with them I am sure you can change their mind." Kai said as she left the room. Jason sighed and laid her back down on the bed. He moved to get up but found her legs twined with his. Laughing quietly he lay back down finally getting some sleep.

A loud knock on the door woke both from their sleep. Ellie still lay curled up against him while Jason held her tightly.

"Ellie! Ellie get up now!" Risa called through the door.

"I don't really want to mother! Besides if we are going to be traveling I would like to get as much sleep as it is possible."

"How in the world did you know that?" Risa yelled as Jason asked.

"What do you think I was sleeping that whole time?" Ellie said raising an eyebrow at him. Jason laughed and hugged her closer to him. She laughed herself.

"Ellie! If you think that justifies your staying in there all day then you have another thing coming my dear. You two will have enough time to spend together while we are up at the castle."

"What? I thought we were going home!" Ellie cried out leaning up to stare at the door.

"Well you thought wrong." Ellie groaned and fell back against Jason.

"This is good news."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because now I can see you more frequently." Jason whispered in her ear.

"You know just because we are engaged doesn't mean I _want_ to be around you."

"Thats true but not leting me go does justify it."

Ellie raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry but last I checked you kept _me_ here!"

Jason laughed and ran his fingers through her hair. "I think I might enjoy the long three day ride to the castle now," he whispered in her ear.

"Why? Because you get to spend a whole three days trapped in a carriage with my sisters? Well I hope you do enjoy that. By the way the day after we get back to the castle you have to go through with our agreement."

"Oh I intend to and I might enjoy speaking with your sisters after all they are going to be family here soon."

Ellie groaned and sat up. "Don't remind me."

"Oh you make it seem like a _bad_ thing."

"It is, I am marrying a spoiled prince."

"Last I checked I kept _you_ from getting sore from sleeping in a chair." Jason said as he sat up as well.

"Well I _have_ to go pack."

Four hours later...

Ellie sat in the small carriage gazing out the window. She had somehow managed to be trapped in a carriage with just Jason. He sat on the other side of the carriage laying across the seat. His feet dangled off the side. She sat with her head propped in her hand.

"I suppose you will ignore me the whole ride then?"

"There is a lot of things to think about. Like why _we_ are the only ones being sent ahead? Or why _I_ got stuck traveling with _you_? I mean honestly could Laci or May have come as well? There is plenty of room in here. I have enough room to sleep for crying out loud."

Jason sat up now and gazed at her. "Its like you are set against not marrying me or something. I'm not _that_ bad you know." Ellie turned to face him blue eyes meeting green.

"I never said you were but its like they are pushing us together."

"Why is that such a bad thing? I quite enjoy spending time with you."

Ellie flushed and turned to look away. _'When you get to the castle I expect you to act your age. When I get there we will be needing to have a talk.'_ Ellie sighed as those words traveled through her mind once more. Jason, deciding it would be best to be by her, moved to the other side of the carriage pulling her into a hug. Ellie didn't resist and let him hug her. "I have a feeling things will be getting a lot more complicated as the days go on."

"I was thinking the same thing but we can at least count on having the other with us." Ellie nodded her head at his statement. She let her head fall against his shoulder as the two fell into a comfortable silence.

Ellie had just dozed off when the sound of yelling met their ears. Jason moved out of the carriage before it had even stopped dodgeing a blade as it ascended towards his head. Turning he dug his blade into his attacker, not realizing Ellie too had joined the brawl.

There were nine attackers in all. The two guards were dead, arrows protruding from their chests. Ellie stood panting, blood on her face and clothes. A bloody blade was held in her hands. "I had no idea you could use a blade," Jason said with pride.

"All of us know how. Its dangerous for us to not have some sort of ability." She told him as she went to the carriage driver. He was pretty much unharmed with only a few cuts on him.

"We best be gettin' on Yer Highness. If there is more of 'em we are bound ta run into some trouble."

"I agree with you there. Just add the horses to the carriage and lets get a move on."

Within ten minutes they were heading down the road. Ellie sat with her back to the side of the carriage. Jason watched her from the other side of the carriage. Her blue eyes were dim and she looked exhausted. "If you want you can get some rest. I don't think we will be stopping tonight." Jason told her.

Ellie nodded her head before closing her eyes. Now Jason was really worried. It seemed both of them were prime targets. When Ellie almost fell off her seat Jason moved to sit with her, letting her fall back asleep against him. He would find out who was after them, he would make sure of that.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well thanks to my two reviewers. Bryony Casten: Thank you for the tips and yes I know thirteen was a _lot_ to do but I like them all. Nelarun: Thanks for reviewing I am glad you like it, I had nine chapters already done but I changed them cuz they turned out bad so I hope you like this one.

Chapter 4: Two Days Together

Jason sighed and looked out the window. They had only stopped once at a small Inn that night. After being cleaned up and changing horses they left again in a new carriage. Ellie was once again fast asleep laying back into him. He had switched positions this time, letter her lay back into his chest. His arms were wrapped around her waist so she wouldn't fall. A smile curved her red lips and she seemed content where she lay.

Her fingers were twined with his and one of her legs hung over the edge of the seat. She had changed into a tunic and pair of breeches saying it was much easier to travel in. The more he thought about it the more he looked forward to their marriage. A smile came to his face as he realized he would be spending the next two days with her.

"We are 'ere Yer Highness," the driver called.

"Thank you good Sir," Jason said. "Wake up Ellie," he said quietly in her ear.

"Wha?" Was all she managed to say as she sat up her blue eyes ladden with sleep.

"Come on," he whispered gently to her as he led her into the castle. She stumbled as she walked, still more than half asleep. "Whoa watch your step." Jason caught her around the waist keeping her from falling.

"Where am I?"

"The castle, come on time to sleep," Jason said with a grin. She managed to mumble something incoherant as she followed idly by him. He opened the door to his room and turned her towards the door to hers but she didn't follow him. Instead she headed in the opposite direction and crawled into his bed. "That's my bed you know."

"It's mine now," she said just before dozing off. Jason stood there watching her sleep in his bed. He actually liked the idea of her sleeping in _his_ bed.

A soft knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. He opened the door to reveal his servant, James. "Hello James, what are you still doing up?"  
"I came to see if you were alright."

"I am. You should be with your wife, go I can take care of myself."

"That I am sure of but it is my job to at least _check_ on you."

Jason grinned wide. "True, true but for the next two days consider yourself free of me. Now go back to your wife I am sure she misses your company."

"Thank you, night Jason." James said as he headed off down the hall. Jason slowly closed the door behind him.

Turning he found Ellie still fast asleep and curled up against the only extra pillow he had. Shaking his head he changed into different clothes as he moved to lay on the other side of his bed.

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With a sigh Ellie pushed herself upwards from where she had been so comfortably sleeping. She vaguely remembered leaving the carriage and crawling into some bed. Jason mumbled something and rolled onto his side, his arm falling across her lap. Of course, she should have expected she would wind up in the same bed as him, though, now that she thought about it, it wasn't _that_ bad. She would be married to him before long so she should get used to the idea.

Shaking her head she slipped out of the bed and headed to the window. She pushed open the doors and stepped out onto the balcony. The wind rushed by her pulling free the rest of her light brown hair. She inhaled the smell of rain on the wind. Turning her gaze eastward she saw the storm front that was moving in. It would be here with three days time.

Ellie didn't hear Jason wake up or head over to her. Suddenly his arms wrapped around her waist making her jump slightly. He smiled as he set his head on her shoulder. "It's not nice to scare people you know."

"Sorry I didn't intend to scare you."

"You're a bad liar," she mumbled quietly.

"Looks like a storm is moving in," Jason said as he turned to look at the oncoming clouds.

"Should be here in about three days but could be shorter."

"Well then should give us plenty of time."

"Plenty of time for what?"

"We have two days together, I think we should enjoy it. Now come on I am _starving_ and its passed noon so we have less time then I would have liked. Your room and things are right through that door, I will see you in ten minutes," he told her kissing her neck before turning to head to his dresser.

Ellie shook her head and headed to her room. Just as he said Jason knocked on her door in ten minutes. She pulled open the door wearing a modest light pink dress and her hair was pulled back. Smiling he offered his arm to her as the two made their way down to the dinning area. After a quick chat with a young page he led her into a small dinning area.

Taking her seat she let her eyes wander around the hall. "So what are you planning on doing today?" She asked him.

"I was hoping you would join me for a walk to the library, which I am sure you would like, then a short tour of the castle, also dinner, then a stroll in the gardens."

"Gardens? As in you have more than one?"

"Eight to be exact. Its more of a tradition for the Queen to plant her own garden, well to carry on one that is. That means the next queen will finish the half of my mothers."

"Interesting tradition. I see that means there have been fifteen queens before that have done this?"

"Oh yes and they are still growing and thriving I might add."

Ellie let out a low whistle. "Impressive to say the least."

Food was brought out and Ellie couldn't help herself as she dug in. Jason smiled and stood when they were done. "Well shall we?"

Ellie nodded and got to her feet, ignoring the arm he held out of her. The two slowly made their way down the hall for just about every servant stopped to talk to the Prince. "Sorry about that," he said as he opened the door to the library. It was _huge_! She gasped surprised at the size of the library.

"This is spectacular! My sisters will be envious!" Ellie managed to get out her blue eyes wide with envy. Her fingers lightly ran over the spines of the books she passed. Jason leaned back against the wall, a huge grin on his face, as he watched her look over the books. He slowly ran his fingers through his hair his eyes moving slowly over her.

She could feel his gaze on her but her mind was to entranced with the books. It was possitively amazing to look at! Never had she seen a library this big or this spectacular before. It put her in a state of shock that left her both speechless and amazed. His gaze never wavered as he watched her enjoying herself and she didn't mind in the least, it did, however, make a chill run down her spine.

Turning she smiled at him, meeting his dark green eyes, that seemed to be laughing. "This place really is amazing. I'll have to show my sisters this when they get here! Oh Sara will love this! She reads more than the rest of us."

Jason only nodded his head. The look in her blues eyes was just captivating to him. They danced with excitment, joy, wonder, and anticipation. "Then I will be more than happy to let her come here any time she feels up to it. There is more than enough room for anyone who wishes to come in here. Would you care to see the rest of it?"

She nodded her head excitedly as she took the arm he offered. They spent the good part of the day going through the library. Ellie just couldn't get enough of it and would have stayed the whole day had he not mentioned the gardens. After a quick dinner Jason led her through the castle to two large gold doors.

The door itself was spectacular. Vines were carved running up the sides of it and flowers blossemed along it. In fine writing were the names of the fifteen queens who had built the garden. Jason laughed at the look on her face. Her jaw had dropped open in a big 'O' and her eyes had gone wide again. Quickly her eyes traced over the carvings and the names. "Queen Ezal," she mumbled so quietly that Jason had almost missed it.

"Oh yes, Queen Ezal. She was the first woman to ever be crowned Queen. Though she did eventually marry and have children she ruled her country well on her own. Many people could never figure out where she disappeared to and it wasn't until her daughter became Queen that the gardens became a new tradition. My mother always told me there was a reason why but she said it was only for the next queen to know. Mother spends a lot of time in here but shes never really let my sisters in. She said this place is only for the queens to come. I am not allowed in here but _you_ are."

Ellie had long ago turned to face him. Her face eager to hear what he said as she drank in everything he said, not missing a word. "_Me_?" She practically squeaked when he said it. "Why me?"

"You are to be the future queen. So this is where I will leave you," he said as he let go of her arm. She watched him go before returning to face the door.

She really wasn't sure if she should go in but the temptation was getting the better of her. Slowly she raised her hand and stopped. Just below Queen Susan's name was hers. Slowly, with her hands shaking, she gently ran her finger over the engraving. She could hardly believe it. Her hands shook as she pulled the door open to see something she had never seen before.

Jason entered his small study and sat down behind his desk. He took a slow deep breath trying to calm himself. It wasn't until he had left that he realized what this all meant. He hadn't missed the engraving with her name on it, meaning it was already set that she was going to be queen.

Suddenly he turned and dug through the bottom drawer. After much paper shuffling he pulled out a black box. He set the box on his desk and slowly opened the lid to the box. Inside was a beautiful gold crown. It was studded with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Beside it was a small gold ring. It was plain except for the engraving inside of it. Removing it from its spot her turned it in his fingers. It had her name engraved with his.

A soft knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said slowly still turning the ring in his fingers.

James pushed open the door and his wife followed right behind him. "Hello Jason, so glad to see you are here," Kelly said with a grin.

"Hello Kelly, I see you are doing well. Good evening James."

"Good evening my friend. So where is your future bride-to-be?" James said as he eyed the box in front of Jason.

"She, my friend, is in the gardens right now. I thought she would like to see them before the rest of the family arrives. Mother wants to speak with her about them."

"Oh that is _lovely_," Kelly commented as she came to stand beside him, her gaze lingering on the crown. James walked over to stand by his wife.

"Its the first crown to be made for Queen Ezal. She ordered only that fifteen actual crowns be made for the Queens before they are repeated. So now she gets to have this one," Jason said in a calm voice as he put the ring back in the box.

"So what is she like?" Kelly asked as she sat down on the side of his desk. James laughed and shook his head, taking his wife's hand in his.

"She is the middle child of thirteen!"

"THIRTEEN!" Both exclaimed at once.

"Oh yes thirteen, I was just as shocked as you two are. She is sweet and kind but don't get her mad she can have quite a temper. Amazingly she is close to all of her sisters and she has three others from her mother."

"Close to all of them? I am barely close to either of my sisters!" Kelly said shocked.

"The funny thing is I think all of them draw their strength from _her_. We were attacked on our way up here and she is amazing with a blade."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason woke to the sound of light knocking on the door. He rolled over onto his back and was surprised to find Ellie asleep beside him. She lay on her back, her head tilted towards him and her right hand resting just beside her head. Smiling he pushed himself up, not realizing he was using his bad arm till pain shot through him. Groaning he rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door.

Opening it he was surprised to see his younger sisters, Molly and Kai. "What are you two doing here?"

"Mother sent us a day early but we just wanted to tell you that we will be sleeping all day and don't want to be bothered," Molly said covering a yawn.

"I'll be sure that no one bothers you two," he said as he hugged the both of them.

"How's your arm?" Kai asked.

"It still hurts but it isn't that bad. I'm glad to see you two made it here safely."

They both smiled but he could see they would rather be sleeping. They wore tunics and breeches which he had never seen them in. "Tell Ellie hi for us," Molly called as she dragged her older sister off behind her. Smiling he closed the door, he was glad that his sisters were home. As he headed back to his bed he stopped as his eyes fell on Ellie again.

The blanket had been pushed down to just above her knees. She wore a simple blue slip of a nightgown. It had small straps that revealed her creamy shoulders. His breath caught in his throat. Suddenly she shifted slightly, pushing the sheets off of her as she pulled her knees up, when she turned onto her side.

"Jason," she mumbled quietly breaking the spell on him. With a deep shaky breath he tried to control his raging emotions. He pulled back the blankets and climbed into his bed. When he settled himself she moved to where she was laying against him. Her head rested on his chest, one arm slightly wrapped around his waist, and her other arm lay on his arm. Inhaling deeply his nose was filled with the all to familiar smell of apples and cinammon.

Ellie was the first to wake as the sun glistened in through the window. With a sigh she stretched herself out not realizing that she had almost hit Jason. To her surprise she found their legs intertwined and the sheet wrapped around them as well. His hand had slid up her side nestling on her ribcage. He smiled in his sleep and pulled her closer to him. She laughed quietly at her predicament but it was just enough to startle him awake.

"Morning," she mumbled quietly to him.

"Morning, did you enjoy the gardens?"

She nodded her head and brushed a piece of hair back from her eyes. It was then that he realized exactly where his hand rested. He moved to pull back but Ellie caught his arm. "Calm down," she whispered to him. Jason didn't say anything but pulled her closer to him. She smiled at him and rested her head against his. "I heard your sisters come back."

"You were awake?" He asked incredously as his green eyes grew wide.

"I am a light sleeper just so you know. I am glad they are back, nice girls," she mumbled running her hand through his hair.

"So then you said my name on purpose?" A sly grin appeared on his lips.

"Maybe," she said a twinkle in her eyes.

As Jason looked at her he had the sudden urge to kiss her till they couldn't remember their own names. He moved to kiss her when a knock on the door made him stop. He let out a groan as he got up but Ellie laughed at him as she pulled the blanket up around her shoulders again. Jason opened the door and four blurs ran in.

"Ellie!" Rian, Hanna, Sally, and Katrina cried.

"Oh no! JASON!" she cried trying to hide from her four younger siblings. Rian managed to slid under the blankets and hugged her older sister.

"Come on I want to get something to eat."

"Well why did you come bug me then?" She asked just as her other sisters lay down beside her.

"Because we have no idea where we are going and they wanted to come see you," Rian's grin grew wider.

"She _still_ in bed?" A voice drawled at the door. Ellie sat up and saw May standing there beside Jason.

"I may still be in bed but I am awake!"

May raised an eyebrow at her sister and Ellie got the implication. "Oh and how long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes," she mumbled.

"Oh leave her alone May! I'm hungry!" Rian snapped as she hurried over to where May stood.

"I can get some of the servants to show you to the dinning hall. After a long trip I am sure you all would like to sleep," Jason put in when Ellie said nothing.

"Thank you that would be great, the rest of the family will be arriving tomorrow," May said but her gaze still held Ellie's.

"Well then," Jason said not missing the two sister's looks. They all wore tunics and breeches after having traveled. After calling out to a servant, the sisters left the room and Jason slowly closed the door behind them. "Are you alright?" Jason asked when he saw her looking down at her hands.

"I'm fine I promise. I should probably go get dressed," she muttered getting to her feet.

"Would you like to go riding? I am sure everyone will appreciate sleeping for a bit."

Ellie's face brightened at the idea as she quickly nodded her head.

The two left the castle two hours later. After a long ride they made it to a small clearing by a tiny waterfall. They talked for a few hours before dozing off.

The crash of thunder snapped them both awake. "Looks like the storm was moving quicker than we though," Ellie said as she ran to her brown mare. Jason laughed as he swung into the saddle of his black stallion.

By the time they made it back to the castle it was pouring. They led their horses into the stables where two stablehands took them. They ran towards the castle in the pouring rain. Somehow Jason managed to slip and fall, knocking Ellie down. "Jason!" Ellie practically yelled as she realized she was covered in mud. Jason, who was in much the same position as her, laughed to himself.

"What? You look cute like that," he said in between breaths. Annoyed Ellie threw mud at him, hitting him in the face. "Hey!" he cried as he launched himself at her. The two wrestled in the mud in the end Jason pinning her.

"You cheated!" she squeaked.

"How did I cheat?"

"You're heavier!" She said as she struggled to free herself. Jason laughed but was forced back into the mud when she rolled. Now she sat on top of him holding him down. "I win," she said with a wicked grin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he mumbled as he suddenly slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled her head down to his. Ellie was to shocked to pull back as he kissed her but soon gave in as warmth flowed through her body. Jason leaned up but kept her close as he continued their kiss. She was the first to pull back, both of them panting heavily.

"W-we should go get clean," she said as she moved off of him and onto her feet. Jason slowly got to his feet and followed her inside the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: They Return

Ellie stood gazing out the doors to the balcony. Rain slid down the glass and thunder boomed overhead. It had been steadily raining since yesterday afternoon. After having taken a shower Ellie had headed off to the gardens. She now stood in her own room, to which she had rarely slept in. A gentle knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. "Come in."

"Hello," Rian said tentatively. Ellie turned to face her younger sister. She wore a beautiful light green dress and for once her brown hair was down. Ellie herself wore a red dress but her hair was up and out of her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Did you sleep well yesterday?"

"As much as I could with the storm going on. You don't look so well," Rian said as she took in her sister's pale complection.

"Just a little tired is all its nothing to worry about." Ellie moved from the window and approached Rian, who still stood by the door. "Happy birthday Rian."

Rian smiled slowly and hugged her sister. "Thank you." The two stayed where they were for a few minutes. With a sigh Ellie released her and smiled.

"Come on I think we should join the others for lunch."

As the two made their way down the halls they remained in a peaceful silence. Kai looked up when the two girls entered. Neither of them said anything but took their seats and began to eat when food was served to them. Kai watched Ellie closely, noticing her slower movements, and pale skin.

Lunch had just ended when the doors burst open to reveal ten very soaked sisters. May, Ellie, and Rian hurried to their feet and hugged each of their sisters. "You all look frozen," Ellie said when she hugged Laci.

"Yes well its rainy and _very_ windy," Nora said in a annoyed voice.

"Alright all of you off to change," Ellie said in a commanding voice as she ushered her sisters from the room.

When everyone was clean and warmer Ellie managed to get them all into the library. She got the desired effect from Sara who was in complete awe of the room. The others all took some seat around the room.

Gira and Tallie occupied one of the couchs. Both of them were in matching green dresses and their blonde hair was pulled back. Nora, was sitting in a big armchair in a light red dress that was her favorite, her blonde hair was down. Iliane sat in one of the window seats in a light blue dress, her red hair falling around he shoulders. Tammy and Anne sat in one of the other couchs. Tammy in a dark green dress and her red-brown hair was pulled back. Anne also wore a light blue dress but her black hair was down. Talya, May, and Olria took up the largest couch in the room. May had on her favorite light green dress and her brown hair fell around her shoulders. Talya wore a gray dress and her black hair was also up. Olria was in a light purple dress that matched Sara's and both girls had thier blond hair up. Rian lay curled up next to Ellie.

"Three weeks Ellie aren't you excited?" Anne said suddenly making the room go quiet.

"Three weeks till what?"

"Your wedding!" Anne and Tammy called together.

"Oh yes of course."

"Thats not very convincing," Gira said with a smirk.

"You should be thrilled!" Tallie said.

"I mean he is _very_ handsome and a very nice man you are lucky Ellie," Nora said quickly.

"I am sure she is excited," May said quietly.

"Shouldn't we all be focusing on Rian's birthday?" Ellie said hoping to draw attention off of her.

"Yes!" Talya, Olria, and Sara said.

"We have presents for you," Laci said as she got up from her seat. Rian sat up straighter a huge smile on her face. "I hope you like it," she said as she handed Rian her present.

Rian didn't hesitate to rip it open. She opened the lid to find a brand new sketchbook. "I love it!" She squealed as she hugged her eldest sister. Laci laughed and hugged her back. Gifts began to circulate through the room as Rian hugged each of them for her gifts.

The girls soon then began to go into discussions in their own world. Ellie sat with Sara a bit back from the others. "Are you really excited about the wedding?" Sara said slowly.

"I'm not sure what I am exactly. So many things have been happening lately."

Sara smiled at her, though she was the quietest of the family she always listened to her sisters. "What exactly has been happening?"  
"I don't really know. Every time I am with him I can just be me and it just seems so, I don't know, right when I am in his arms. It feels like the whole world just falls into place when I am."

"Sounds like he is perfect for you Ellie. I think he will be good for you. You need someone who can be just as excentric as you and just as loyal."

Ellie smiled at her older sister. "You always seem to know exactly what to say but that doesn't make me feel much better about being married."

"It will change. Are you alright?" Sara asked getting to her feet. Ellie's face had paled more and she placed a hand on her forehead. "My goodness Ellie you are burning up!" Sara said as she pulled her sister to her feet.

May, who had been watching, got to her feet and hurried over to her sister. "What's wrong?"

"She's sick and she is burning up from a fever.

The rest of the sisters had stopped talking and Rian ran over. She felt Ellie's forehead and found she was hot. "I'll go find a healer," Rian said sprinting from the room. May and Sara led Ellie to her room. On the way they ran into Jason.

"What's wrong?"

"She's sick," May said. Jason nodded and lifted Ellie out of their arms.

"You two should probably go get your mother, did one of your sisters go for a healer?"

"Yes Rian did," Sara said as she watched Ellie. Her eyes were closed and her breathing came in short, strained breaths.

"Alright well you better go," Jason told them as he turned and headed down the hall. "Why didn't you say something?" He whispered to her.

"I didn't realize I was in a bad condition. Besides its Rian's birthday," Ellie muttered as her head fell against his chest. "It hurts," she mumbled clutching her stomach.

"Everything will be fine I promise." He managed to get his door open and headed inside. A fire blazed in the fireplace warming the room. Gently he laid her down in his bed, pulling the covers up around her shoulders. She slowly opened her eyes and he saw how dim they had become. He set his hand on her cheek and he could feel how warm they were.

"Please don't leave," she whispered to him as she held his hand in hers.

"I won't."

The door opened and a healer entered followed by Rian. After a few minutes the healer put his things away. "She's got a nasty cold but she will be fine. Nothing a bit of bed rest won't fix. Just keep her in bed and give her some of these herbs every eight hours and she will be better in no time."

Ellie gave Rian a weak smile before dozing off. Moments later Risa and the Queen burst into the room. "What happened?"

"The doctor said she only has a cold," Rian explained to her distraught mother.

Risa moved to the other side of where Ellie lay and set her hand against her oldest daughter's forehead. "This isn't good. Rian do you still have the medicine?"

Rian regarded her mother for a moment then her eyes went wide. "You don't think..." Rian's voice quavered as she spoke.

"I'm afraid so. We only need to be safe. I don't want a repeat of last time," Risa said as she left the room, Rian trailing behind her. Laci and May exchanged looks, they had appeared not long after the Queen and Risa.

"What's going on?" His mother asked a bit confused.

"It is nothing to be sure, we don't want to worry you," Laci said quickly.

"Everything will be just fine," May said. "I hope," she said so quietly only Laci could hear it. Risa returned with Rian behind her.

"Sweetheart," Risa called softly. To Jason's surprise she slowly opened her eyes. Risa took in the look in her eyes. "Is it the same?"

Ellie barely managed to nod her head. "Everything will be fine," Laci said coming to sit on the edge of the bed, holding her hand. She only shook her head and turned to face him before closing her eyes.

"You all know what to do. Your Majesty shall we go eat?" Risa asked leading his mother from the room.

"I've got the first, go inform the girls," Laci said quietly. Rian and May nodded as they headed off. Rian stopped lingering at the door as she looked at her older sister, then turned and left.

Laci sat her eyes on Ellie's pale face.

"What's going on?" Jason asked slowly after a minute.

She regarded him for a minute. "Ellie is sick, physically. Even the slightest cold can hurt her. The worst happened about five years ago. She got caught in a rain storm with Rian and she came down with a really bad cold. Her body was always weak but she never got sick. Her condition got steadily worse and she almost died. Risa has some medicine that helps keep her system working."

Jason sat there, shocked. What could he do? How could he possibly help her? Why didn't he know beforehand?

"She'll be fine, none of us will let her slip, not again," Laci said quietly.

From that point on the girls would rotate every two hours. It took him a minute to realize that they rotated downward age wise.

A/N: Ah hahaha yet another chapter that I have completed and this one really was sort of short I suppose. Well ne how the next one is going to be LONG and Ellie and Jason will be spending _a lot_ of time together in this one and you get to see the Queen in the next one but more at the end. Cinnamon-sg- Just to answer the question the wedding will be in a few more chapters or well the eighth I am sure for now but I hope to get to it soon and thanks again to all my reviewers!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Men, Kisses, and Roses

Ellie woke with a grin. Despite the fact that she had been sick for the last four days and that she barely remembered anything, she was feeling happy. Jason's arm tightened suddenly around her waist making her turn her head. His hair was tossled and he looked slightly pale but none the less a smile formed on his lips.

She remembered waking up when her younger sister curled up beside her and another time when her mother gave her medicine. Most of the time she was in and out of conciousness but there was always one thing she could remember, Jason's hand intwined with hers. Smiling she rotated in his arms and buried her face in his chest.

"Mornin'," he mumbled, his voice still layered with sleep.

"Morning," came her muffled reply.

BANG! BANG! BANG! "GET UP!" someone yelled from behind their door. They both groaned at the same time and huddled closer together.

"Go AWAY!" Jason yelled back, hiding his face in her light brown hair.

"Oh and thats how he treats his two _best_ friends! To think we made this _long_ trip just to come see him!" Another voice said.

"I know can you believe how insensitive he is!"

"No one _asked_ you to come!" Jason shot back making Ellie laugh.

"Well then I say we should just go in there and get him."  
"I better go, I am not up to everyone finding us like this," Ellie mumbled as she pulled slowly back from him.

"Why does that matter now?" Jason said with a smirk as he leaned up onto his elbow.

"You are getting a little _to_ comfortable with the idea of me and you in the same bed."

Jason caught her arm and pulled her back down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You don't seem to mind us being in the same bed you know. Besides its not like we aren't practically married!"

"Well we aren't now so there! I am going to take a nice long bath and I suggest you go entertain your friends." With that she pulled free of his arms and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What! Thats all the thanks I get for staying by your side for the last four days! I think I deserve a bit more than a kiss on the cheek!"

Ellie stopped at her door and turned to smile at him. "Well I would stay and thank you better but I have to get clean before my sisters come looking for me. Which should be here soon. So remind me later and I will be sure to thank you properly." She turned and left the room, intent on taking a long relaxing bath.

Jason sighed and got to his feet just as the door burst open. A tall blonde haired man came into the room followed by another tall black haired one. Both grinned wickedly. "So you _are_ alive. I mean we just get here and he isn't even hear to greet us!"

"I've heard he spends all of his time with his future wife!"

"Daniel, Peter shut up! Why are you two here anyway?" He asked as he got up to change.

"Well we came to see you and of course to stay for the wedding," Daniel said.

"Its not for at least another _week_, actually I really don't have any idea when it is."

"It shouldn't be too long now," Peter said. "So where is she?"

"_Ellie_ is taking a bath. Now what can I do for the two of you?"

"I don't know inform us about her. Like what she looks like, whats she like, whats her family like, you know things like that." Daniel said as he dropped onto the couch.

"Oh she is _amazing_! She has long light brown hair and the most intoxicating blue eyes I have ever seen. She's sweet, funny, and excellent with a blade. Also she has _twelve_ sisters and she is in the middle of all of them."

"TWELVE!" They both cried at once.

"Oh yes twelve," Jason said as he came to face his friends. Daniel and Peter got to their feet and headed to the door. "Nice girls I promise. They are all exceptionally close."

"I am amazed. Thriteen children thats a lot," Daniel mumbled.

"You have no idea." Just as they headed down the hall Sara and Rian were strolling down the hall, talking quietly, and no doubt heading to see Ellie.

"Morning Rian, Sara," Jason said with a grin.

Both girls smiled wide. "Hell Jason," Sara said.

"Hello Jason, is my sister awake yet?" Rian asked.

"She is in the bath I think, said something about her sisters coming to take her away."

The two girls laughed and grinned. "Oh she does know us to well," Sara said with a gleam in her eyes.

"I think our sisters will be disappointed to know that! Oh but she has another thing coming to her tomorrow!"Rian said as she ran down the hall to her sister's room.

"Rian!" Sara gave a quick curtsey before running after her sister. Jason laughed and headed down the hall till he realized his friends weren't following but looking to where the girls had disappeared.

"Well I see you two have taken a liking to Rian and Sara."

Both boys turned to face their friend. "What makes you think that?" Peter said quickly.

"I can tell. Just so you know Rian is the _youngest_ and Ellie's full blood sister. She just turned sixteen too. Sara is the third oldest, two minutes older than her twin sister Olria and they are both...twenty-one."

"You are telling us this why?"

"Oh I don't know it looks like you both have a crush on my future wives sisters, who are _all_ currently unattached." Jason said with a wicked grin.

Ellie had just gotten dressed and was drying her hair when her baby sister burst into the room. "Ellie!" Rian said before tackling her sister.

Laughing she hugged her sister tightly. "Glad to see you too Rian. Hey Sara," Ellie said as Sara dropped onto the couch in her room.

"Morning Ellie," Sara commented. Rian scrambled off her sister and helped Ellie to her feet, before going to sit beside Sara on the couch. Ellie went back to drying her hair. "So what have you been doing this morning?"

"Nothing, I just got out of the tub is all. After four days in a fever you tend to get really sweaty."

"Then why is their a new sparkle in your eye?"

"What are you talking about?" She said trying to cover up the slight blush rising on her cheeks.

"I know you better than that Ellie. I've never seen that look in your eye," Sara put in as she gazed at the younger girl's back. Rian looked back and forth between the two, completely confused.

Turning Ellie met Sara's gaze and raised an eyebrow at her. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Nothing at all has happened! Goodness Sara, I woke up less than an hour ago and you think I have been up to something."

"I don't think you have been I _know_ you have been. Besides Jason seemed to be in a pretty _great_ mood this morning!" Sara said a smirk forming on her lips.

"His friends just go here thats why!" Ellie said quickly.

Rian laughed which broke Ellie's concentration and a blush broke out on her face. She turned but wasn't fast enough as Sara caught it.

"So you did do something."

"Not really, I guess the fact that I have spent my entire time here in _his_ room doesn't quite help my situation."  
"The _entire_ time? You mean to tell me you've stayed every night in his room?"

Slowly Ellie nodded. "Its not like we did _any_thing! So don't give me that look! Besides its not like its going to kill anyone." She said with a shrug as she began to brush her hair before pulling it back.

"No its not but its just not like you. When did this happen?" Sara asked as she turned onto her knees and leaned over the couch.

"When he got hit with an arrow. I remember waking up laying next to him and now I just can't seem to get to sleep if he isn't beside me, which is really odd." Ellie called from behind the screen as she went to change.

"Not really. Its a good thing then that you two are getting married."

"Oh you just _have_ to remind me. Come on we need to eat." Ellie said as she stepped out from where she had been changing.

The two sisters laughed but got to their feet. The three of them made thier way down the hall to the dinning hall. Opening the door they were happy to see the rest of their sisters in the dinning hall.  
"Ellie!" Iliane called. Everyone's head turned to gaze at Ellie, Rian, and Sara. Risa smiled along with the Queen when they saw them enter. The King grinned as well, and slowly the rest of the royal family did. At once all the sisters got to their feet. Hanna, Katrina, and Sally ran to Ellie, who laughed and hugged them. She hugged each of her sisters in turn.

"Glad to see you doing well," Laci said as she hugged her younger sister.

"Its good to see all of you again," Ellie said with a huge grin. Her eyes moved to the table where she saw two men she figured where his friends. Then her eyes traveled to Jason, who sat beside his father and across from his mother. He met her gaze and smiled at her, which she returned. "Morning mother," she said as she turned to look at her mother.

"Good morning Ellie, I trust you are feeling better?"

"Much thank you." Her sisters headed back to the table where Ellie found herself trapped between Anne and Talya.

Daniel leaned over to talk to Jason. "She's beautiful," he whispered quietly.

"I told you she was." Jason couldn't help the pride that crept into his voice. His eyes found Ellie, who laughed along with her sisters. Nothing pleased him more than to see her up and moving around again.

When breakfast was done Jason managed to get to Ellie, who was making an escape outside. He finally caught her when she turned into a small sitting area. She laughed when he pulled her around to face him.

"You just have to make things difficult for me don't you?"

"Not at all, I just didn't want to be seen getting out of there. I love my family but I do need my air and space," she said with a smile on her face.

Jason smiled as well and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't, its broad daylight!" She complained as she pulled back from him.

"Why does that matter? Its not like anyone can see us here anyway!" Jason said with a smirk.

Ellie pointed upwards towards the castle and sure enough a balcony overlooked the area. With a sigh he held out his arm to her, which she gladly took. The two slowly began to walk around the small garden but it held no interest to Ellie, for no garden could be as beautiful as the Queen's Garden.

"So what do you plan to do for your birthday tomorrow?"

"Well as always my sisters and I will spend from dawn till about dinner together, then after that its really whatever I want to do."

"Will you have dinner with me then?"

She raised an eyebrow at him but nodded her head. "I will but why?"

"Well I can't really give you your present with everyone else around now can I?" Jason said a gleam in his eyes.

"I suppose not," she shrugged at this and tilted her head slightly to let the sun warm her face.

Jason watched her for a minute before realizing they were now out of sight of anyone who looked on from the castle. He dropped his arm and wrapped it around her waist, making her turn to face him. Her face gave into her confusion but Jason said nothing before he pulled her into a shaded part of the garden. Ellie gasped but was cut off as he kissed her. Almost instanly she melted into him and kissed him back. Jason moved his other hand to the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his head, pulling him closer to her.

His lips slowly moved from her mouth to her jawline, then down to her neck, making her groan. She ran her fingers through his hair losing herself in his kisses again. Suddenly he pulled back and both gazed at the other panting. He really hadn't intended to do that but he couldn't stop himself. The look in her blue eyes made him want to lose himself in her again. They just gazed at each other for a long moment. Slowly a smile crossed her lips and a blush broke out on her cheeks as she dropped her head.

Smiling himself he wrapped his arms around her waist again. He couldn't see her face as she hid from him. This gave him perfect access to the back of her neck. Gently he kissed her neck moving slowly down to her shoulder. Ellie's hands gripped his arms tighter as he kissed her neck. Jason watched as a shiver ran down her spine and couldn't help his grin from growing wider.

Sara lay on one of the couchs in the library. She had changed out of her usual dresses and into a pair of breeches and a red tunic. Her blonde hair was yet again pulled back on her head. So lost in her book, she didn't hear the door open. Peter scanned the room. He had been looking all over the place for Jason but he seemed to have disappeared. Instead her found Sara reading one of his favorite books.

"Jason is with Ellie if that is who you are looking for," she said quietly as she turned a page in the book.

Peter smiled. "Actually I was and I don't suppose you know where the two have gone off to?"

"Knowing my sister, they are outside somewhere. She can't stand to be inside for more than a few hours before she loses her mind."

"That's a very good book by the way," Peter said as he went to one of the bookshelves.

"I know, its one of my favorites," her voice was low showing that she was still trapped in the book.

Smiling Peter dropped onto another couch and began to read. After about thirty minutes Sara sat up and stretched. She had been reading since breakfast and she knew she had missed lunch yet again. A yawn escaped but she covered it with the back of her hand.

Peter didn't seem to notice her since he was lost in his book. This gave Sara time to finally look at him. His black hair was much shorter than most of the men had but she didn't mind in the least. His eyes were just about as dark as his hair. His shoulders were broad and she could tell that he at least worked out in some way. To her enjoyment his shirt was tight across his chest giving away his muscular frame. Suddenly Olria burst into the room. "Sara! I should have known you would be in here! Come on we have to practice our music lessons."

"Why don't you practice with the triplets?"

"Because I don't work well with them if you aren't there! Please Sara! I want to sing! You haven't sung in months! Besides May is going to teach us her new song."

Sighing Sara nodded her head. "I'll be there in a minute I have to put my book away."

"Yes!" Olria shouted as she hugged her sister before running from the room. Shaking her head she placed the book back where it belongs.

"You sing?" Peter asked suddenly. He had stopped reading when she had burst into the room.

"Yes I do and so does my sister. Well I suppose the triplets do as well. However, Tammy is the best out of all of us. Would you like to come listen?"

"That sounds wonderful," Peter said as he got to his feet. He offered her his arm and she gladly took it. The two made their way out into the hall. "Do all of your sisters sing?"

"No. May plays the piano and harp but prefers the piano. Laci loves the violin. Anne and Talya dance rather than sing or play instruments, Ellie as well. Rian and Iliane both play just about any instrument you can put in front of them."

"Amazing, you all seem to be very talented."

"I suppose we are. You should see us when we celebrate Laci's birthday. Its the biggest celebration we have. Laci's birthday is the last of them and Tammy's is the day after Ellie's. So we celebrate Laci's two days later where we all get together. We sing, dance, and have fun," Sara smiled slightly as her thoughts wondered back to previous birthdays.

"You all seem to be very close."

"We are, we have only really had each other all our lives. One thing we could always count on was having each other."

"That's great that you have all been there for each other. I mean I have a younger sister and we are very close. After our parents death we only had each other. Jason invited us to live here until I got the estate back. She's lately married and expecting her first child."

"That's wonderful! I can't wait for Ellie's first child! With girls dominating our family I would be very happy to see a boy."

"I don't blame you in the least. I mean so many women, how did your father handle it?"

Sara laughed. "I have no idea how he managed it but he did. To which I am grateful for."

The two made it to the door and Sara opened it. May was playing on the piano and Olria was humming the tune. She waved Sara over. Sara headed over to the piano and both girls began to hum. Peter took a seat in one of the chairs.

Once they had gone through it twice the two girls began to sing the song.

Rian sat on the roof of the stable enjoying the warm sunlight on her face. Below her she watched as Daniel practiced with his sword. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him. His movements were quick and decisive. With a grin Rian swung down from the roof and dropped onto the ground. Unsheathing her sword she came up behind him and just as he swung around she swung up.

The blades clashed together and Daniel looked a bit surprised to see her. She lifted her eyebrow and Daniel grinned. The two went into a sparing match.

Rian swung her blade down and he stopped it just above his head. He pushed up and shoved outward. Without losing any ground she moved forward aiming her blade at his thigh. Jumping back he lost his footing giving her the upperhand. She attacked him repeatedly forcing him further back. Finally he managed good enough footing and he launched his own attack against her forcing her to block but she gave up no ground.

Daniel lundged at her knocking both of them to the ground. In one swift motion Rian tossed their blades away from them. Rolling Rian managed to end up in a crouching position while Daniel lay on his back. Suddenly got to his feet and the two circled each other. Daniel took the first shot aiming for her stomach. Rian moved with ease and her knee came up. Moving his hands down he blocked the shot and barely missed her fist as it was about to crashed against his skull. Laughing she brought her knee down landing her heel in his shin. Jumping back he kicked his leg up and she moved to the side.

His fist missed her shoulder by inches. She grabbed his arm and he spun her against him, holding her tight to his chest. Rian's hands wrapped around his arm and she kicked out, connecting with his thigh. Groaning he kept hold of her only to be thrown to the ground. The fall knocked the air out of his chest and Rian set her foot on his throat.

"Nice job, that was fun," she said with a wide grin. She removed her foot and offered him a hand up.

"Thank you, you aren't so bad yourself." He said with a grin as he got to his feet. "I'm Daniel."

"Rian," she said as she turned to pick up the fallen swords. She took a moment to look over his sword. "Not a bad blade, though nothing compared to Ellie's blade. Made it herself and the best work we've seen. "

"So you all seem to have some sort of talent."

"Of course. Laci, Tammy, Nora, and Iliane are masters with a bow. May and Sara have the best control with an axe. Olria and Talya have some mad skill with daggers, trust me you don't want to get them mad. Then Tallie, Gira, Anne, Ellie, and I have our swords."  
"You all seem to be very accomplished."

"Well when one of us found something new, we all found something new. We just seemed to always seem to find something to do while we were at home." Rian said sheathing her sword and handing back his. Daniel smiled and sheathed his sword.

"Rian!" Ellie called. The two turned to see Jason and Ellie standing on the hill.

"Hello Ellie!" Rian called back with a smile.

"The girls have already started their lessons and Laci's birthday isn't but six days away! Come along we have work to do."

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot! Coming!" Rian turned to curtsey to Daniel. "I had fun fighting with you I hope we can do it again some time."

"I would like that."

Smiling she ran to catch up to her sister and the two disappeared into the castle. Daniel made his way back to where Jason stood. "Nice match, I thought you had her one time but Ellie only laughed."

"So she thinks I can't beat Rian?"

"No she _knows_ you would lose to her. Your forgetting all of them have better skills than most of my knights! So therefore you were way out of your league there buddy."

Daniel laughed and clapped his friend on the back. "I do hope you have fun because it seems you will lose every battle with your wife."

"Oh I don't know about that," Jason said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Something you aren't telling me?"

"No not at all. Care to watch the girls?"

"Sure why not."

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Ellie lay comfortably next to Jason. The two had fallen asleep in her room, on the couch, when they had been talking. She knew exactly what would transpire in just a few moments, so she savored her time curled up next to him. He sighed and kissed the back of her neck. A shiver ran down her spine from the contact. A smile spread across her lips as she turned to face him. His green eyes glistened as he kissed her forehead.

"Happy birthday," he mumbled to her.

"It won't be that happy here when my sisters burst into my room and drag me off with them. Then I shall be forever trapped in with them until sometime in the afternoon," she said slowly as if she was trying to remember how it all worked.

Jason grinned wide. "Well you don't _have_ to leave, I am sure _we_ can find a few things to do to pass the time."

"I'd rather be with my sisters if it matters to you."

"Ouch! Am I that bad to be around? I mean seriously?"

Ellie laughed and pulled free of his warm arms. She stretched slowly and sighed. Jason leaned up on his arm and kissed the back of her neck. "Stop that!" she whinned but he continued on. "J-Jason!"

"What?" he mumbled into her neck.

"Stop! My sisters will be in here any minute now."

"Not if the doors are locked," he said as he turned her to face him.

"You didn't!"

"Of course I didn't, that is a little rude. Besides, we are going to be married what does it matter if they find us?"  
"It matters to me at least. When we _are_ married it won't matter then but I don't want them to get the _wrong_ idea."

Jason laughed and kissed her lightly before getting to his feet. "Well I am going to take a bath and entertain my friends. So I will be seeing you tonight." He said with a sly grin, to which she rolled her eyes at him.

Just as he left the room her sister's burst in. "ELLIE!" Rian cried as she threw herself at her sister. Ellie was thrown back against the couch and laughed. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Thanks Rian but you have got to get off of me!"  
"NO!"

"Rian calm down," May warned.

"Its not everyday your sister turns twenty!"

"Hey I turn twenty in two days you better be just as excited," Tammy warned.

Rian nodded her head but still would not release her sister. "Now can we kidnap her? I mean we still have to do the proper ceremony and all of that!"

Sara, Olria, Anne, Talya, May, and Laci each grinned at the mention of the 'ceremony'. "Oh dear how could we forget that!" Anne said faking ignorance.

"Now you girls know the drill, oldest children only for that part," Laci said in a calm voice. The sisters lined around the couch. The remaining sisters nodded their head in understanding.

"Alright time to go spend Ellie's birthday together!" Iliane proclaimed.

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Ellie's head ached fiercely from the 'ceremony', which had been preformed just before she left to meet Jason. Her body ached as well and the overwhelming desire to sleep was soon taking effect. Just as she got to her room the desire to sleep became to unbarable. She promised herself that she would only rest for a minute. After she crawled into bed she was out like a light.

Jason walked down the hall heading towards his room. He was coming to bring Ellie to her surprise dinner. Slowly he pushed open the door and frowned. She was fast asleep in her bed. The blankets were covering just her waist and she kept tossing and turning. It seemed that no matter how she lay she couldn't get comfortable.

"Jason..." she mumbled as she turned onto her back again.

The sound of her calling out his name brought a smile to his face. He turned and stuck his head out the door, calling to James. "What's going on?" James asked, noticing the frown on Jason's face.

"It looks like her sisters wore her out and I won't be having that dinner I planned. You and Kelly can enjoy it if you like."

"Thanks and I am sorry."

Jason smiled. "Well its not that bad. Enjoy."

James nodded and Jason quickly closed the door. Shaking his head Jason went to his room to change into something to wear to bed. When he entered the room she had rolled over onto her stomach and the blankets lay around her feet. With a sigh he crawled into the bed pulling the blanket up over them. The moment he lay down she moved to lay beside him, her head laying on his chest. She let out a small sigh as she finally got comfortable.

Since it was the middle of the day he doubted he could get any sleep at all. Instead he picked up a book that lay beside the bed and began to run his fingers through her hair.

It was around midnight when Ellie did finally wake up. Slowly she opened her eyes, taking in how dark it was outside. She leaned up on her elbow and looked at the clock, it read twelve ten. Jason lay fast asleep beside her, a book open beside him. With a smile, she picked up the book and set it on the stand. Her head still ached from the days activities. Then it struck her, she had missed her dinner with Jason! She groaned as she realized what she had done.

_How could I be so stupid? He probably hates me now! I mean honestly I just fall asleep!_ Ellie thought as she climbed out of the bed. She still wore the dress she had on from earlier and it was now uncomfortable. There was no point in waking him or anything, after all it was past midnight. Instead she headed out of the room and made her way to the gardens. She felt so horrible for having gone to sleep like she did and she didn't know what else to do.

Slowly she made her way to the biggest rose garden there. Sighing, she sat down on the bench and held her head in her hands. "You seem upset," a voice told her quietly.

Ellie looked up to see Queen Susan. "I am, if only just a little bit."

"What's wrong?" The Queen asked as she sat down beside Ellie.

"I just feel horrible. Today was my birthday so my sisters and I always get together for half the day. Now that I am twenty it meant that my sister's would perform our 'ceremony'. Only thing is its so exhausting and I was supposed to meet Jason for dinner, only I fell asleep instead. I can't believe I did that!" She complained hiding her face in her hands again.

"You shouldn't feel horrible at all. Its not your fault and Jason knows that. I doubt he is mad at you for falling asleep."

"I still feel awful for just falling asleep, I really didn't mean to."

"Don't worry. Has my son told you the story of how this place was started?"

"He told me that the first queen had done it as a way to be free of her work and obligations."

"Well that is part of it but there is more..."

Ellie walked back to her room with a smile on her face. The Queen had been very kind to her. She was feeling a bit better at having stood Jason up, if only it was on accident. Slowly she pushed open her door, thankful that Jason was still sound asleep. After changing she climbed into the bed and pulled the covers up around her. Jason's arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her back against him.

"Where have you been?" He mumbled into her neck.

"I just went for a walk."

"A very _long_ walk, something you aren't telling me my dear?" Jason said a grin on his face. Ellie rotated in his arms and slid her arm around his neck.

"Well there is this one man. He has the greenist eyes I have ever seen! Such a sweet guy, I just couldn't turn his offer down," she told him with a grin.

"That's not funny at all."

"Oh but I thought it was!" She said before laughing. Jason glarred at her, making her laugh even more. "Jealous?"

"Me? Jealous? Never!"

"Liar!"

Jason grinned before rolling her onto her back and laying on top of her. "Sorry but you are the liar here. Besides its not like I have to worry about anything."

"Oh really? So I could never have men attracted to me?" She said pouting as she wrapped her other arm around his neck.

"No I never said that. I am sure _plenty_ of men are jealous of me because you will be _my_ wife. I was just saying that I wouldn't have to worry about you leaving me."

"What gave you an idea like that? I mean seriously, there are _plenty_ of men who would be perfect candidates for husbands."

"Sorry but you are mine."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Easy, this." He mumbled before leaning down to kiss her. Ellie turned her head so he kissed her cheek. He moved to kiss her jawline, then slowly made his way down to her neck again.

"Jason!"

"What?"

"Do you _have_ to do that?"

Jason laughed and rolled onto his side again. Ellie leaned up on her elbows and turned to face him. "Well I do have to say you owe me for earlier," he said as he stretched.

"Well consider that repayment then."

"No I don't think I will, I mean after all I only got to kiss you."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "You never went through with our agreement."

"You're right! I will be sure to do that tomorrow."

She didn't like the glint in his eyes. "Well I take it you chose one of my sisters then?"  
"I picked one of you, yes."

With a small sigh she rolled onto her side and looked down at him. His green eyes met her blue ones and she smiled. "Well then, I hope you have a lot of fun," she mumbled before kissing him lightly on the lips. "Goodnight." Was all she said before resting her head on his chest and curling up beside him. Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her, before the two fell asleep.

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A/N: Alrighty then!I am so sorry it took FOREVER to update but school work bogged me down and getting ready for my prom but I do hope you all like this chapter. Thanks again to my reviewers who are great. Any how this was a bit longer and I am finally going to have some fun with Jason and Ellie in the next chapter. It will be called Prince Charming, just because it fits. Then the wedding will be coming soon so I hope you all will enjoy that. Thanks again! now off to write the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Prince Charming

Jason walked down the hall, James right beside him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean she did actually mean one of her sisters."

"Well when I asked she was fine with it. So now I get to 'fall all over' her."

"She's going to be mad at you for this."

"Oh I am sure I can calm her down. Now that we have all of this arranged I will see you again at breakfast."

James laughed and shook his head. "If you do I am sure Kai will be glad to be queen."

"I'm sure she will be."

Jason slowly made his way back to her room. She was still sleeping but fitfully. It pleased Jason immensly that he such an effect on her but he would never admit she had just as much of an effect on him. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand down her cheek. That stilled her, she rolled to face him, resting her head in his hand. Slowly he moved his thumb across her cheek, watching as a small smile appeared on her lips. He would really enjoy watching that blush creep onto her cheeks, also, all those kisses.

Her hand moved and twined it with the one at her cheek, pulling it to her chest before rolling onto her side, facing away from him. Jason let out a low chuckle as he shifted so he could lay down beside her. She let out a low sigh as she leaned back into his chest.

"You really need to stop leaving," she mumbled.

"I didn't mean to keep you awake if I did."

"You should know by now that it wakes me up, which means I will be sleeping in later. That also means so will you." Jason laughed and leaned up to kiss her cheek.

"I think I can live with that but you may have to repay me."

"Oh no! You are the one oweing _me_ not the other way around."

"Anything you wish then," he whispered in her ear.

"You really shouldn't say that you know," she told him turning to face him.

"Really? And tell me, why would that be?"

"Because I have twelve sisters who will be more than willing to torture you."

"Well torturing I can stand, besides I know that you won't let them kill me or do anything too horrible."

"That may be so but still doesn't mean they can't hurt you." He laughed quietly and the two fell asleep.

Ellie woke to the sound of her sisters. Groaning she pulled herself out of bed, realizing that Jason was gone. With a sigh she quickly got dressed and opened her door. Outside stood her two favorite sisters, Rian and Sara. They grinned up at her.

"What are you two so cheerful about?"

"Nothing!" Rian said quickly as she linked her arm with her older sister. "Mother headed home with the girls, she said she would be back for the wedding." Rian said with a shrug.

"I think you two know something that I don't," Ellie said slowly. Sara laughed and linked her arm with her sisters.

"What makes you think that?" Sara said calmly.

"They smile on your faces and the glint in your eyes! Now what in the world is going on?"

"Nothing is going on? Can't we just spend time with our sister?" Rian said with a hurt look on her face. Ellie rolled her eyes at her younger sister and they continued on down the hall.

They opened the door to the breakfast room. Her sisters sat at the table, they chatted idly. Rian and Sara hurried to take their seats leaving her to sit by Jason. With a sigh she headed over to him. Jason got to his feet and pulled her chair out for her. She raised an eyebrow at him, curious as to his behavior. He gave a low bow and sat down beside her. The King and Queen exchanged looks at the sudden change in their son.

Ellie shook her head as she began to eat breakfast, listening to her sister's idle chatter. Jason sat talking quietly to his two friends. Rian, all of a sudden, knocked her cup over, splashing water on her and Ellie.

"Rian!" Ellie said as she jumped to her feet.

"I'm sorry! I didn't even realize my cup was there," Rian said innocently. The water had barely got on her, instead it had splashed all over her! Ellie glarred daggers at her sister. She was smiling sweetly at her and this made her even more suspicious to her sister's behaviors. It wasn't like Rian to be so clumsy, actually that was usually May.

"If you will all excuse me I need to go change," she said the last part slowly as she continued to glare at her sister.

"I shall escort you then," Jason said suddenly as he got to his feet. He held the door open for her and she shook her head. The two quietly made thier way down the halls. The while Ellie was muttering fiercely under her breath.

After changing she was surprised to see Jason waiting outside her door. She didn't say anything just headed back with him. Just outside the door she stopped. "I'm going to go, tell them all I will see them later," Ellie said suddenly as she turned to head down the halls. Jason frowned as he watched her go. He was tempted to follow her but he had to come back or they would worry.

Ellie quickly made her way down the halls, not really caring where she was going. In the end she found the library and lost herself in the large maze of books.

Sara found her here. "Ellie?" Sara called softly and found her sister fast asleep. Ellie would never be able to stay awake most of the day. Since she was little she had always woken up early and never got to bed at a decent hour. Now that she was older she spent whatever time she could sleeping. Smiling to herself she closed the book in her sisters hand and sat down in another chair.

Rian headed down the halls, enjoying the time she could spend by herself. She loved her sisters a lot but things were a bit boring sometimes. Ellie had disappeared yet again and Sara went looking for her. Jason had made an attempt to actually be nice and princely but Ellie had just disappeared._ She was probably sleeping, _Rian thought to herself. Rian was a little bored she had to admit, at home it was much more exciting then it was here.

To her surprise she heard talking coming from one of the rooms. The door was slightly ajar so she could hear a bit better. She didn't think it was smart to listen in on others conversations but what else did she have to do? Rian slowly made her way to the door and listened in.

"I don't know where she went," Jason complained.

"Well I am sorry but looks like she has other things to do," Daniel commented quietly.

"I know but how can I do anything _nice_ for her if she repeatedly disappears on me? I mean honestly I can't spend more than fifteen minutes with her a day, well during the day. I do get to _some_ time with her in the morning before her sisters come take her."

"Thats good you know, besides soon here you will be able to spend time with her a lot more," Daniel remarked quietly.

"Not really, Father plans to pass the crown down to us after two months. He says it would be nice to retire. He wants to spend the rest of his time with mother, meaning I get to watch over my siblings. Not only that but her and I will be busy with court work."

"Oh calm down boy! You've got a great wife, many other women aren't even capable of _helping_. She is beautiful, smart, caring, and funny. You should be grateful you got such a girl." Daniel snapped.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I just got a letter from father, stating that I had better come home. He said that I have to get _married_ within the next two weeks!" A loud crash could be heard from inside and Rian jumped.

"Daniel! Calm down! Gosh what is so bad?"

"I am already engaged! To some girl I have no idea who she is. I don't want to marry through an arranged marriage! I want to marry someone..."

"Someone like?"

"Someone like Rian," Daniel said after a moment. Rian let out a small gasp, her hand going to her mouth.

"I knew you liked her! Why didn't you say anything earlier?"  
"I don't know...I just thought I would have time. I mean I didn't expect all of _this_ to happen. She isn't like other girls."

"None of her sisters are like _other_ girls. They grew up in a far different set of rules than we did. They were really lucky actually, I don't know how many men would be dying to marry someone like them. Most men are moving away from the traditional 'housewife' to the more sturdy reliable ones. After all, these wars are making men leave home and they _need_ a woman who can cope with all the housework and business."

"That I know of and that is what I am afraid of. Rian is a beautiful young woman, intelligent too. Men would flock to her, her sisters too. I don't want to be in an arranged marriage I want to pick, no offense to you. You were very lucky after all but I know my father, I won't be."

"Then tell her, something, anything." Jason insisted.

"I can't! I am still betrothed!"

"Did you know that _all_ of them are as well," the Queen put in, she had just entered the room.

"What do you mean all of them are bethrothed."

"Oh yes, see their father has had them arranged for years."

"Then why isn't Laci, May, Sara, Olria, or any of them married?"

"They wanted to wait until Ellie was married to begin the rest, after all it puts the girls in higher esteem that way. I don't blame them besides the men are still in battle after all."

"Well isnt this an interesting turn of events," Daniel mumbled.

"Actually you should hear who you are engaged to."

"Who-"

Someone pulled Rian back from the door, covering her mouth. She turned enough to see Ellie holding her. Sighing she let her sister lead her away and down the hall.

"Rian! I thought we taught you better."

"I was bored! I had nothing else to do. Besides why didn't father tell us we were all in arranged marriages!"

Ellie went slightly pale. "H-h-how did you know that?" She demanded.

"The Queen just told Daniel and Jason! What in the world is going on Ellie?"

**A/N: alright I am so sorry for the huge delay in my updating! I was grounded ALL last week so I didn't have my computer I couldnt get it done, but I have now gotten it done! Alright it wasn't as good as I would have hoped butI will promise to have a better chapter for number 8 here soon. Well thanks to my reviewers and I hope that you like this chapter! I may go back and reedit it but I will be sure to tell u all if i do**

**Seritha!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Truth Comes Out

Ellie looked around for some sort of escape. They didn't know the truth about what was going to happen and Ellie did not want to be the one to tell them. "ELLIE!" Rian snapped.

"Rian...I...I..." Ellie tried to think of what to say. She wanted to say anything, anything but the truth. Rian grabbed her sister's arm, stopping her from walking off.

"You know something we don't know." Ellie sighed heavily.

"Girls!" Sara called hurrying up to them. "I've been looking all over for you two. What's going on?" Sara asked as she looked between the two. Ellie was trying to get as far away from Rian as possible, while Rian was gripping Ellie's arm tightly.

"She knows something! She's been keeping a big secret from us Sara."

"Rian, please! Sara, make her let go."

"What is she talking about Ellie?" Sara asked after a moment. Ellie looked around frantically for her escape. There was no way she could get out of this. Sighing in defeat, she tugged on Rian's arm.

"Alright, come on, we can't talk here." The three girls headed down the hall and into her room. She dropped onto her bed. Sara leaned back against the couch and Rian leaned next to her. "I found out twenty minutes before I left to come here. Father had to keep money going to raise thirteen daughters, so he signed us into arranged marriages to get the money. He decided to wait till I was settled before the rest of you would follow through. Unfortunately it seems Daniel's parents have gotten annoyed with this setting and they are pushing the date forward. So that means two days after my wedding will be Rian's. Don't interrupt me just yet. You all remember Arthur and Richard?" The two girls nodded their heads. "Well Arthur is supposed to be coming back tomorrow from the war and that's when Laci was supposed to be told that they are going to be married."

"But Laci hates him!" Rian said shocked.

"Yes she does but there is nothing to be done. Richard should be here by the end of the day. All the announcements were going to be made this week, when the rest of the men showed up. Let's see Peter is for Sara, Ralph for Olria, Mark for Anna, Paul for Talya, Keith for Tammy, Randall for Iliane, Erick for Nora, John for Tallie, Sam for Gira, and of course, Daniel for Rian. They will be arriving here this week and the wedding dates set up according to when everyone can have them done. I wasn't supposed to tell you all just subtly get you all very nice dresses according to what you wanted."

"You mean I am going to be marrying Daniel?" Rian said in a low quiet voice.

"Yes that is exactly what is going to happen."

"Well isn't this spectacular! I can't believe we all lose our freedom! How can they do this to us?" Rian screamed as she slammed the door behind her. Ellie winced at the sound of this. Sara sighed and hugged her younger sister.

"I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to be in an arranged marriage either! None of this should have been happening to us. It should be for love not for money but that isn't how the world works! We should be lucky we got so well off. They are all in prominent families and all of that! Most of them are even knights! Men who have made names for themselves, made lives for themselves. We should have a choice but we don't! We never have! That's why we were always placed in situations where we could be around them. Why they were always the ones to take us to the balls and events, even though they didn't want to. Maybe one day they can learn to love who they are going to marry but that is all we can ask!" Ellie said in a low, annoyed voice.

"She will understand that eventually but let her have her time. She just turned seventeen this wasn't what she was expecting."

"And you think I was expecting to be married to the crown prince and become a queen? That was the last thing on my mind when I met him! I didn't want to be queen, or married, or even a mother yet! I didn't want all of this but that is what I have. But now after all of this I am starting to love him. He takes care of me and he watches out for me." Ellie sighed and got to her feet. "I am surprised you aren't mad at me as well."

"Not at you Ellie, at father, for doing this to us. No one wants to be married against their will. Like you said we could learn to love them. We should learn to love them and to accept the fate we have. It doesn't mean that we will right now, or for a while. I know you didn't. Especially not you, things fall so much harder on you than on anyone else in this family. Things will turn out well and just expect for us to take this hard and not want to do it. You've set the perfect example for us. You haven't complained about it, you are handling it remarkably well for being the future queen. We will get over it but it won't be now. Just hold your head up high and keep going Ellie. Without you this whole family would fall apart, into pieces."

Sighing again she slipped to the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest, holding them tightly. Her head rested on her knees as she gazed at Sara sitting on her bed. No it wasn't her bed any more; it was just an extra bed. After all she stayed more with Jason then she did on her own. She was growing much closer to him and she didn't like staying away from him. Sara seemed to realize what was going on with her sister.

"He's on his way. Take care Ellie and I suggest you speak with the girls soon," Sara whispered. She quickly hugged her sister before leaving the room. Ellie dropped her head onto her knees and let out a low sigh_. What am I going to do? How in the world am I going to break the news to them? They will be so furious with me._ Just then the door opened again but Ellie didn't turn to look. Jason, who had run into Sara just before coming into the room, sat down next to Ellie.

"I take it they didn't take the news too well?"

"Rian is who knows where and Sara seems to be holding her own. That doesn't surprise me in the least to be real honest. Sara always could hold her composure in front of others." Jason stayed silent for a few minutes. "Y-You don't regret this arrangement do you?" She asked suddenly.

"No, I don't, why would I?"

"I don't know. Just it's all so sudden." Jason pulled her towards him, making her lift her head up to face him. "It may be sudden but we still have plenty of time, years in fact. Besides I don't want to marry anyone else." He said quietly to her. She nodded her head and curled up against him.

"I do hope Rian is alright."

"She will be, she just needs time to adjust."

Rian somehow lost herself in the castle. There were just too many halls for her to keep track of. She spun around trying to figure out where she was exactly. With a sigh, she slumped against the nearest wall and cried. She wasn't really mad at Ellie, she was mad at her father. She was already mad at him for taking away her older sister, now she would lose all of them. In a way she knew that they would marry and move off but never did she think it would be forced. When she had first heard of Ellie's impending marriage she was positively furious but there was nothing she could do. It amazed her at how calm Ellie seemed to be and how she handled all of it. She really was an amazing sister. She held her head up high and never complained about it. The whole time Rian expected her to freak out or break down even but she did neither of those. As the days wore on she was astonished at how close Ellie and Jason became. It made her slightly lonely; after all she was closer to Ellie than any of her sisters. It could have been that it was because they were full blood sisters, May and Laci were very close. As was the twins and triplets. Even Iliane and Tammy were. Rian was the youngest of all of them and she looked up to all of her sisters. They all took care of her, taught her things. It was really hard to accept the fact that they wouldn't be able to get together after dinner and sit and talk for hours into the night. This also meant it would be harder to get together for each others birthdays and celebrate like they used to. The whole time she cried she never heard Daniel approach.

"Rian?" He called softly. She looked up at him and a fresh wave of tears flowed from her eyes. Daniel knelt beside her and pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"This wasn't supposed to happen like this," she mumbled into his shirt. That was the last thing she could say for a while. Daniel held her the whole time, mumbling soothing words in her ear. It took about twenty minutes for her to calm down.

"I'm sorry for all of this crying, it doesn't happen often."

"It's alright, I can understand why. Would you like to talk about it?" Rian slowly nodded. _Better to discuss it now then do it later_, she thought.

"Just that, I mean, I knew that we were all going to get married and leave but I didn't realize it would be so suddenly. It's like it has to be done really quickly. I don't understand why we will all be separated so suddenly. We've all grown up with each other and now it's like we are being torn apart for no real reason. I think something else is going on here that we weren't told about." Rian said quietly. She was suspicious, after all no one knew about any of this. Ellie was the only one informed about what was going to happen. "It will be so hard to let go of them, after all we have been through. Just doesn't seem right..." She trailed off.

"Maybe there is something else. A reason why my parents are in such a hurry to get this all settled."

"I wonder what it could be."

"Something that no one was really expecting I am sure. However, we can all make the best of this situation right? I mean it can't be as bad as we all think it is."

"You think it is bad? I was just shocked that we would be losing each other so quickly and so suddenly. I mean you can't just pull apart thirteen girls who have spent their whole lives together and rely on each other to do things."

"No I didn't mean it was bad. You will see them plenty; a lot of the men they are marrying only live a day or two away from the castle. I actually live here since I am Jason's cousin. Of course I am the second child in the family so the estate gets passed on to my brother, so I stay here instead."

"You mean we stay _here_? As in I can see Ellie a lot more frequently than the others?"

"Yes that is what I mean, however, we will be doing some traveling. I mean I can't stand to be locked up here with all of the court gossip and all of that. It really does get tiring after about a few years of this. We can travel wherever you want," he told her quietly.

"That would be nice. Besides it won't be so bad as long as I can see Ellie every once in a while. Like my sister's say we all draw strength from her. I am proud of her, she's taken the whole arrangement a lot better than any of us expected."

"She's a very strong woman; I am not surprised in the least."

"Yeah I suppose that's not really surprising."

Laci was walking through the many halls of the castle. She had finally managed to get free of the remainder of her sisters and now was enjoying the peaceful environment. Being the oldest meant that she had to watch out for all of her younger sisters. She didn't mind watching over them and all but sometimes she needs a break, some time to herself.

She turned a corner and ran smack into someone. "Sorry," she mumbled as she took a step back. She looked up and met a pair of familiar brown eyes. "Oh it's you," her voice was cold.

The tall brown haired man looked down at her, his eyes guarded. "It's good to see you again Laci, you look at radiant as ever." She glared fiercely at him and turned on her heels and began to walk off. "Laci wait."

"No! Arthur I am not waiting to hear anything you say!" Her voice seemed to get colder with each word she spoke. He caught her arm and spun her to face him. She struggled to get free but he was bigger and stronger than she was. "Let. Me. Go."

"Not until we talk!"

"What is there to talk about? You betrayed me Arthur! I don't _ever_ want to speak with you again! I don't even want to look at you. Let alone hear your voice. I will be happy to never see you for the rest of my life."  
"I didn't betray you Laci! I could never do that to you."

"Then why in the world did you leave? Why were you with _her_?" Laci yanked free of him. Her blue eyes blazed with such hatred, he unconsciously took a step back. She smirked at seeing him do this. "You lied to me, you betrayed me, and you hurt me. What reasons do I have to be around you anymore? After what you did to me, I have better things to do. My sister is getting married and I plan to be ready. Now goodbye." She snapped and took off.

Arthur watched her leave, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I still love you Laci," he called out to her but she walked on.

She had only managed a full ten minutes before she burst out into tears. "Laci!" May cried running to her older sister. Laci collapsed into her sister's arms, crying in her sister's shoulder.

"I-I-I hate him!" She managed to get out before she was lost in tears, making speech impossible. May said nothing to this and held her sister. She was surprised to see Arthur heading down the hall, as if he knew she was in pain. The look in his brown eyes surprised her. He looked so sorry as if he would rather die then see her in such pain.

He took a step towards them but May shook her head. Now she needed to get over their first meeting in the last five years. Arthur dropped his head and May watched tears roll down his cheeks. He turned and fled the hall.

"I'm sorry Laci," she whispered in her sister's ear.

Ellie found the two in the hall. Laci was still sobbing uncontrollably. She knelt down beside the two sisters. "Laci," she whispered quietly to her. Laci looked up at Ellie. It was so strange how Ellie's voice reminded her of her mother's voice. Laci's eyes were red from crying and the usual light in her blue eyes was gone. "What happened?"

"He's back," she said weakly. None of the sisters were really clear as to what happened between the two but whatever had happened left Laci incomplete.

Ellie looked up at May and frowned before looking at her sister again. "We should get you too your room." Laci nodded and the two helped her to her feet.

"I'll stay with her," May said when they had entered Laci's room. Ellie nodded her head. She watched May lead her sister over to the bed, where Laci broke down into tears again.

Ellie slowly closed the door behind her and headed off in search of Arthur. She found him in his room, his head in his hands. His shoulders shook as he sobbed quietly. "You're early."

"I had to see her," he mumbled quietly.

"She's missed you Arthur but its clear she hasn't really forgiven you for what ever it was."

"She never told you?" He said looking up at Ellie. He was in much the same state as Laci.

"She didn't tell us anything about what had happened. We knew she would when the time was right for her but she hasn't recovered."

"I didn't do it to hurt her; I don't even know how it happened! I would never betray her…." He said in a slow, shaky voice.

"I suggest you work things out before she finds out you two are engaged to be married. I'll tell her about it like I promised my father but you have to repair the damage."

"I will, I can't lose her, if she doesn't forgive me…I'll call it off. I won't put her through the pain or anything like that. I care too much about her to do that to her."

"Alright but I hope you can settle it. I'd wait a few days before you go through with talking to her."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Wedding Dresses and Messes

"ELLIE!" Laci called through the door. She groaned and rolled so she hid her face in Jason's chest.

"It's to early Laci! Let me sleep."

"You can't we have to go dress shopping," Rian called out.

"Please don't tell me all of you are out there! "

"Well we won't but we are," May piped up.

"Come on Ellie," Nora pleaded.

"Oh go yourself!" Ellie said. "I am not in the mood to go dress shopping."

"To bad your wedding is in a week! So you have to!" Iliane now put in.

"Why me? Honestly, why can't Laci be married first, I just want to sleep."

"You _always_ want to sleep!" Anne and Sara said at once.

"Jason! " All of them cried together. Jason laughed and climbed out of the bed.

"Sorry my dear but I have to," he said before lifting her out of the bed.

"JASON! " Ellie whined as he opened the door and deposited her in the hall.

"Please get her a nice dress, bye ladies," Ellie glared fiercely at him but he only smiled at her. Ellie was picked up off the ground by her sisters and led to her room.

Ten minutes later they all headed into the busy streets of the town. They went to every single dress shop on the main market square. Either they were ignored or treated badly, making the sisters furious and leaving the shop. Rian was the one to spot the last dress shop. It was a small simple building.

They looked at the displays for a minute before entering the shop.

"This is beautiful!" Rian said as she ran over to where a gold dress was at. It had silver trimming on it.

A young woman sat behind a large counter, reading a large book, when they came in. She looked up and was a bit surprised to see so many people enter at once. She quickly got to her feet to greet them. "Hello Ladies how may I help you?"

"Our sister here is looking for a wedding dress," May said quickly.

"May!" Ellie complained.

"What you are, now hush up," May snapped making Ellie fall silent.

"Well I will need your measurements, if you would please follow me," the woman said as she indicated towards a small area surrounded by mirrors.

Ellie took her place on the stool and let the woman take her measurements. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you getting married to?"

"I don't mind, I am getting married to Prince Jason, more of an arranged marriage actually."

"He seems like a nice enough sort of man."

"At first he was a bit annoying but I got over that. He's a wonderful man, actually gets along with my sisters."

"_All_ of them are your _sisters_?" The woman said in disbelief.

"Oh yes, all twelve of them. I actually have three younger sisters as well but they went back home with mother for a few days. They should be back by the wedding."

"I have four sisters, all of which own a dress shop. They work on the main street. Did you stop by there?"

"We tried every shop and quiet frankly I don't care much for them. They were exceptionally rude to us. I can't say there dresses weren't pretty but they are too simplistic."

"The court style reverted back to being simplistic a few months ago."

"I noticed that as well. My sisters and I really like to stand out, not that you can hide thirteen girls. Also I think my sisters have taken a liking to your dresses," she said indicating back to her sisters.

The woman looked up and in fact they were all talking excitedly over some of her dresses. Ellie stepped down from the stool. "You've just found yourself thirteen new customers. I'm Ellie by the way."

"Jessica," she said quietly.

It was about two hours later when they finally made their way back to the castle. They all went their own ways when they got to the castle. Ellie, May, and Laci headed down the halls.

They were surprised to come across Arthur. They all stopped facing each other. Ellie and May watched as Laci's stance changed instantly to a guarded one. It was rare to see Laci in such a position unless she was defending one of her younger sisters.

Arthur was about to say something when a woman's voice cut in. "Hello my dear cousins," Ally said from behind them. They all whirled around to see their tall, blonde cousin. She was the same age as Laci but shorter.

"Hello Ally," Laci said in a strained voice.

"Arthur! Well it's so great to see you again. What brings you here?"

"I've come for Ellie's wedding," no one missed the anger that resonated through his voice.

"Well it's good to see all of you again. Now tell me Laci, how have you been? I haven't spoken to you in years. We used to be so close."

"That was until I found you with _him_," Laci stressed.

"Oh yes of course! How could I have forgotten? You were always jealous of my good looks weren't you?"

It wasn't Laci who reacted first but May. Her fist slammed into her older cousin's jaw, knocking her hard into the floor. Laci and Ellie gapped at their sister. May _never_ got this physical with anyone. She was the more timid one who tried to avoid fights as much as possible.

"How dare you! You insufferable woman! You have no right to be here. You have no right to even talk to her! You selfish jerk!" May said. Her voice was filled with pure and utter hatred, something that was never heard in her voice. Ally got to her feet, glaring at her younger cousin.

"I suggest you watch your tongue May, you are, after all, younger than me."

"Yes but I am not as horrid as you are! I would never do something like that to family! You are no better than that bastard of a mother of yours." May said. Ally's eyes narrowed and she launched at May, which was a _very_ bad idea.

May grabbed her cousin's arm and brought her knee up to connect with her stomach. She shoved her hard into the stone floor below. Ally rolled and kicked May in the shin. This didn't phase her one bit. Ellie grabbed May, knowing what would happen. "No, May she isn't worth this!" Ellie forced May back against a wall.

Ally scrambled to her feet. "How dare you speak about my mother so! At least she is alive."

This time it was Ellie who hit her. Everyone watched as she slammed hard into the wall. Ellie shook her arm out. "Stupid, selfish, hateful, slut," she muttered under her breath. "She may not be alive but you know what they are one hundred times better than you are. You should watch what you say around this family. Unlike you we actually learned how to fight. Thirteen of us and you, you will sorely regret crossing us!"

Laci pulled Ally to her feet. "You will regret the day you did this to me, I promise to get my revenge for this!" She hissed in her cousin's ear as she shoved her off down the hall.

"Why did she even come? I just invited our uncle, I didn't realize she would be coming as well," Ellie said through gritted teeth.

"It's not your fault; I never said what really happened." Laci said quietly. She turned to face Arthur, her eyes flashing. "You shouldn't have come either. Why did you even bother to come?" She snapped.

"I came to see you. I wanted a chance to explain what happened. I wrote you and you would never reply back to me. I've been trying to tell you for the last five years!" Laci looked at him for a long moment but turned and walked off.

May and Ellie watched her walk off. "You shouldn't have come back Arthur. She was just getting better." May snapped and ran after her older sister.

"Ellie?" She turned to face him.

"I'm sorry Arthur, I can't help you here. She loves you just as much as ever but whatever happened has made her hate you as well. Like I said you need to go take care of whatever has happened between you two."

"I can't if she keeps running off like she does!"

"Corner her it's the only smart thing to do."

Nora headed down to the kitchen. She was exceptionally hungry and she was pleased that the kitchen staff let her eat.

They had been here only a few weeks and she was already bored of the place. Most of the guest would begin to arrive tomorrow and she had spent the better part waiting for Laci's birthday celebration. It was the best celebration they had had yet. Never had they had so much fun.

The royal family had even come to join in. Rian and Ellie had performed their dance that no one had seen before. She could have laughed at the look in Jason's eyes when he watched her. He never took his eyes off of her the entire time. Of course it wasn't surprising.

Nora was thrilled for her sister, she had found the perfect man for her and it wasn't even by choice either. She only hoped the rest of them could be so fortunate. Laci had found Arthur but something had gone horribly wrong. May just seemed to get annoyed with every man she came across.

Down in the kitchens one of the cooks handed her a plate. She was grateful and took her seat. It wasn't long before the door swung open to reveal a tall, brown-eyes man. His black hair was cut short and he wore a long black cloak.

"Hello mother," he said happily to one of the cooks. Laya, who had served her, smiled up at her son.

"Hello Erick, what brings you home so soon?"

"Father said he had important news to tell me." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not surprising in the least. How have things been going?"

"Very well actually, we are preparing for the prince's wedding."

"Jason is getting married?"

"Yes, to the sweetest girl I have ever met. She's come to the kitchens a few times; she has actually helped us clean. For a future queen she sure doesn't act much like one."

"Our father taught us to be independent, he didn't like us to rely on others on things we could do ourselves." Nora said without thinking.

Laya smiled at her. "You're father was a smart man. After all having to raise thirteen girls he has done a wonderful job."

"Thank you but we were really more self-taught. He was usually working on paper work or something of that nature. We did our best to do as he asked."

"Well then that is still good none the less. Oh Nora this is my son Erick that I was telling you about. "

"Hello Erick," she said with a smile. He smiled at her and shook her outstretched hand.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Nora."

"Nora?" Ellie called as she entered the kitchen. "Ah I knew you would be in here, hello Laya."

"Hello Ellie, come to grab a snack?"

"No sorry to say I can't. Nora, our cousin has returned."

"Which one?" Nora asked slightly confused.

"Ally of course."

"What happened to your hand?" Nora said surprised.

"Oh it's really nothing; I just hit Ally in the jaw."

"Ellie, why in the world would you do something like that?"

"Actually May hit her first. She was insulting Laci and then she insulted their mother. Do you really believe I would stand to see her say anything so hateful? No I won't."

"Where is Laci?"

"She is hiding herself out somewhere in the castle. I can't say I don't blame her. May is getting her hand looked at. I came to ask if you wouldn't mind taking Rian, Tally, and Gira back to the dress shop. All of your dresses have been finished. Iliane is coming with you as well. "

"Is this one of those we need to get rid of the younger siblings while you all look for a plan of action?"

"Yes it is, since you are all too young to attend, we need to figure out a way to help Laci at the moment. Arthur is back and I hate to see her in such a state."

"What? Arthur is here and no one told me?"

"It wasn't something we wanted to shout to the world Nora. You know how sensitive she is about the whole thing. So will you please?"

"Of course I will. However, you all better come up with a very good reason as to explain all of this."

"Oh trust me there is a lot to tell. I'll stop by later tonight Laya."

"That is fine dear would you tell Jason I say hi."

"I will, he should be working at the moment. I'll drag him down for a few hours. Come along Nora we have work to do."

The two exited the kitchen. "That is our future queen?"

"Of course it is. Why do you ask?"

"I was just surprised is all, she is quite beautiful."

"All of them are very beautiful. Now your father is speaking with the blacksmith, so you should find him there."

"Thanks mother, I will come see you again later." He kissed her on the cheek before leaving the kitchen.

"What's going on Ellie?" Anne asked when all of them had arrived.

"It's about Laci," May said quickly. "We all know that five years ago things between her and Arthur got a bit rocky. Alright a bit doesn't very well cover it all."

"The point is he is back and she is in a horrible state. Now there is little the rest of us know about what really happened but you should all at least know it involves our dear cousin Ally."

"That explains why Laci refused to talk to her, let alone write to the girl," Olria said.

"Yes well Ally is here, unfortunately. I had no idea at the time but now that I do she has crossed a few lines that were not meant to be crossed," Ellie said.

"What did she do?" Talya asked. "Does it have something to do with why both of your hands are bandaged?"

"Yes it does. She started to insult Laci so I punched her. Of course she launched at me and got my knee in her stomach."

"Then I had to break it up only to have her insult Laci and May's mother, at which point I punched her."

"She did what?" All of the sister's yelled. No one was allowed to say anything about any of their mothers or they would sorely pay the price. All of their mothers, excluding Rian and Ellie's, had died in childbirth. Risa had practically adopted all of the children and taken care of them in a sense.

"I know, I know, we are all very mad but Laci will get her revenge, I have no doubt about that. What we are going to do is make Ally's life here a living hell. Do you all want to help?" May asked with a devilish grin.

They all nodded their heads and circled together.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Healing Begins

Laci sat in a very small library. She had no idea which one it was, after all there was about thirty of them. Her eyes wandered out the window, where she could see a good view of the city. She made her way to the window and watched her younger sisters' head into the town. With a sigh she leaned against the window frame.

A smile curved her lips as she remembered watching her two younger sisters hit their older cousin. It was true; they were all very protective of each other. Oh she would definitely get her revenge on her cousin.

The door opened and she spun around. Arthur stood in the doorway, his brown eyes dark. She instantly stood up straighter and tried to control her anger. He shut the door behind him and leaned back against the door.

"It's taken me over a week to finally get you by yourself and you are not leaving till you know the full story."

"What is there to tell Arthur?"

"There is so much to tell you. I meant every word I told you."

"Then why were you with _her_? Explain that to me! How could you stand there and tell me you love me and I find you all over her!"

"Laci, I meant it. I do love you; I love you more than anything else in this world."

"Shut up Arthur, I'm tired of your lies."

"I am not lying! I wasn't with her willingly!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Laci snapped, her temper was getting the better of her and she never usually lost it so easily.

"I mean she drugged me! You both have the same blonde hair and I don't know any more. I _thought_ it was _you_. I didn't realize it wasn't at the time. I would _never_ cheat on you! Hell I haven't been around another woman in the last five years."

Laci looked at him. "She's almost a head shorter than me, how could you not tell?"

"Oh yes because I have such a good grasp on how tall things are when I am drugged. I _love_ you Laci. I meant it when I said it and I mean it now. I have never stopped loving you and I know you haven't stopped loving me."

"That's where you are wrong. I have stopped loving you." Arthur closed the huge gap between them. He pulled her to him and really kissed her.

Laci was overwhelmed by this. She could feel all of his pain and despair but she could feel his love for her. Her body reacted almost instantly. She wanted to comfort him, to wipe away the pain and sorrow that he had felt for so long. Their kiss was full of need and want. He held her tightly and wasn't about to let go.

He had felt the pain she had been through and wanted to make it go away. He knew he couldn't take away what had happened but he would sure as hell fix what he could now. Her body melted into his, she never realized just how much she missed his kisses. His lips slid against hers, making her knees go weak.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. They broke apart for a second to catch their breath. Their next kiss was slower, full of their love for each other. Her mind was fuzzy and she couldn't even think clearly. She had longed for this and she was planning on enjoying it. His tongue ran against her bottom lip and she slowly opened her mouth.

When her back pressed against the wall she finally regained some sense. _He cheated on you!_ A voice in the back of her mind screamed.

_**But it really wasn't his fault!**_

_He could just be using that as an excuse._

_**Not the way he is kissing me! I've missed this…**_

_Of course you've missed it! You saw him having his way with your cousin!_ The images flashed in her mind and she pulled back from him. Arthur pulled back, confusion clear on his face. Pain swelled in her chest again and she dropped her gaze.

"Laci?" He questioned softly.

"We can't do this…." She whispered.

"What? Why can't we?"

"Because I can't shake off the fact that you were still with _her_. I can't get those images out of my head. I never thought I would see you with her. She was supposed to be just as close to me as my own sisters. When I saw that, I just lost myself. The two closest people to me and that is how I find them."

"Laci, I know I can't erase that night no matter how much I want to. You knew it as well as I did that she was jealous of us. I never thought she would go as far as to trick me like she did. It's my fault all of this happened, why you've been suffering for the last five years." He tilted her head up so she was forced to look at him. "I can't express in words how sorry I really am; there is no way to say it and no way to make you realize it. I love you and I always have. If you don't believe me words then I know you could feel it."

She could feel it, the feelings were overwhelming. "I'm sorry Arthur; I should have at least let you explain."

"You had every right to be mad at me. At least can we work through this? I don't want to lose you again, I couldn't lose you again."

Laci nodded her head. She really did want to work things out. Her love for him was just as strong as ever and his was just the same. Without a second thought she pulled his head back down to hers, he was more than willing to cooperate.

"Well, well, well, took him back already Laci?" Ally sneered from the door. Laci pulled her head away from his and faced her cousin.

"Tell me Ally, how does it feel to be used?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Arthur said surprised. He had quickly caught onto Laci's game.

"Know what?"

"Oh we shouldn't tell her."

"What?" Ally shouted.

"Tell me dear cousin, why did you drug him? Were you really bent on making me mad? Did you really hate me that much?"

Ally glared at her. "You got everything Laci. You had every man at your beck and call and then you take the best one of the lot. I had told you so often what I thought of him yet you took him."

"You're missing something cousin. I wasn't _trying_ to get his attention; he had his eyes set on me. You knew it as well as anyone else did."

"Wait this is how it started?" Arthur said shocked.

"Besides that you knew I was already betrothed to him," Laci said in an icy voice, ignoring his statement. "You did realize that even if I was mad at him I would marry him in the end. I would have found out eventually. You only made things worse for you. To bad you didn't know that you were already betrothed as well."

"Wait you know?" Arthur said shocked.

"Of course I knew! I know Ellie knows, Rian, and Sara. Not the point here Arthur. The fact is she is seriously going to pay." Laci pushed him back and approached her cousin. She stopped only inches from her cousin. "I know you were behind the attacks on Jason and Ellie." Ally's eyes went wide. "I also know a lot more than you think I do. I hope you realize you just attacked the wrong person. Aiming for our King and Queen was not a smart thing to do."

"No, you couldn't possibly know that."

"Oh but I do. If you try anything at the wedding you will not live to see another day. When Ellie finds out you will not have to worry about me but her. She is the best swordsman in the country. Whatever you have against our family should be kept to yourself."

"I will do what I please. Your family really will pay Laci and I'll be sure to leave you last, so you can watch your family die before your eyes."

Laci stepped closer, her nose touching hers. "You'll be dead long before you can get your hands on them."

Ally glared at her and left the room. With a sigh she ran a hand through her messy blonde hair. "What was all that about?"

"Nothing much, let's just say there are a few things that are going to happen." She turned to face him.

Ellie dropped into Jason's lap, smiling sweetly. "Hello dear," she said in a good mood.

"You are in an awfully good mood."

"Of course I am! Arthur and Laci are back together, Ally is not causing us any problems and this is the first time all week I have been able to get you by yourself. With all this wedding plans going on I can't talk to you anymore."

Jason smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Don't worry we get a short reprieve after the wedding."

"Actually after Rian's wedding, I won't be going any where until I see her married."

"I knew you'd say that, so we are going to be spending two weeks on the coast, just you and me."

"Do you mean that?" Ellie said excitedly.

"Of course I mean it. I would like to spend some alone time with my wife before we have to return to the castle and play good Prince and Princess."

"Oh we already play that part and you know it. I will be glad to get away; after all I have to tell my sisters about the rest of the arranged marriages. They will be positively livid when they find out the truth but I plan to let father deal with them."

"Aren't you the tricky one?"

"Of course sweetheart, I have to be able to get around my sisters. So tell me where exactly on the coast are we going to go?"

"I was thinking more along Moraz bay?"

Ellie gasped. "I've been _dying_ to go there!"

"Good that's great, we leave the day of your sister's wedding. We will be leaving of course _after_ the actual ceremony. Is that fair?"

"Perfect," she whispered as she kissed him lightly but he pulled her closer.

A knock on the door made them break apart. Ellie grumbled something about 'privacy' and 'not having enough' before she got off his lap and opening the door. James stood in the doorway, his wife right behind him. "Hello Kelly, James," Jason said from his seat. Ellie said hi and made her way to another chair.

"Your mother is looking for you," James told Jason. The two took their own seats.

"Not surprising, she wants to make sure Ellie isn't with me. Something about not being able to see the bride till the wedding, which isn't for another two days."

"Mother said something along those lines but I wasn't really listening. I have been surrounded by my sisters and parents for the whole week. I haven't been outside in almost two weeks!" She whined.

"Why don't you two go riding or something? Go into town?" Kelly suggested.

"Oh can we Jason? I really need to get out of here before I go insane!"

Jason laughed. "I agree, will you two cover for us?"

"Of course," James said instantly.

"Thank you, come on Ellie.

Thirty minutes later the two made their way into town. They were dressed in simple clothes and stood close to each other. Ellie held his arm and was enjoying the city.

"Oh look Jason a play! I haven't seen one since I was a kid!" She called dragging him over to the play. It was a classic Cinderella story. Once the play was over with they strolled around the city. They finally made it to a pub, where they order their dinner. "We should do this more often."

"I agree, this has turned out to be a great day," he told her. He slipped his hand into hers. "Besides it's nice to be free of those guards and my parents."

She laughed quietly and leaned closer to him. "That's true; I don't know how you have been able to live with all of that for so long."

"Just have to get used to things like this. You will eventually of course."

"This is nice, just us." Jason smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her. She smiled when he pulled back.

"It is nice. It seems like I haven't seen you in three weeks."

"Which is odd considering we see each other every night."

"Only at night, I rarely get to see you during the day."

"You're right but by the end of the two weeks I am sure we will be more than happy to have some other company."

"Maybe," he said with a sly grin. She rolled her eyes. Music started up and the pub burst into life almost instantly.

Ellie jumped to her feet and pulled Jason to his. "Tonight we get to really dance and not like the stupid way we have to at those court dances." Ellie told him as they joined in the dancing.

It was well past midnight when the two left the pub. Ellie was exhausted from all their dancing. Jason wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping her close to him. "That was _a lot_ of fun," he whispered in her ear. "I haven't danced like that in years."

"Me either, I've had to adjust to those boring court dances. If only this way to dance was acceptable."

"Well we can always come join the monthly celebrations. I mean then it wouldn't really matter."

"That sounds like a _wonderful_ idea," she whispered quietly.

"Now, we should go get some sleep." They finally made it back to his room. Ellie left to go change. When she came back Jason was already asleep, having only removed his shirt and boots. She laughed quietly as she crawled into bed beside him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Wedding

"Jessica!" Ellie cried happily as the young dress maker came in. She arrived carrying Ellie's wedding dress.

"Hello Ellie. You seem to be very excited."

"Nervous more or less." Jessica quickly helped Ellie into her new wedding dress. The material was silky smooth against her skin and it hugged her every curve. The back was cut low and had short sleeves. The veil was easily able to fit with the tiara she had on.

"You look stunning," Laci said from behind her.

"Thanks," she mumbled. She thanked Jessica, who headed out to take her seat. She turned to face her eldest sister. "Are you happy?"

"I am I am very happy. It has been quite a while since I was last in such a good mood but today isn't about me, it's about you, my dear sister."

"I don't want to leave any of you not in the best of health or mood. I would feel awful if I did."

"Trust me all of us are doing perfectly fine. Today is _your_ day. You've done so much for this family Ellie, now just enjoy yourself. You are about to be married and all you can worry about is us."

"It's pure habit; you are my family after all."

"Well soon you will be starting your own family and won't have time to worry about us."

"That's not true! I will always wonder and worry about all of you, you know that."

"Ellie, today is now the day to worry about all of us. We love you and we want you to enjoy your day. Now remember why we are here and why you are looking so stunning."

"Because I am in an arranged marriage that I found out about only a month ago. I am also going to become future Queen and a mother, well eventually that is."

"Not that! That is more of responsibility. You are about to walk down the aisle to a man who loves you as you are and what you are. Someone who can accept the fact that he will be constantly plagued with fifteen sisters, not including how many nieces and nephews you will be having in the future. Have you told him you love him?"

"No, neither of us has said anything like that."

"Well you better start sometime. Now remember Ellie today is about _you_ and you alone. Well except Jason but you get the general idea. So, nervous?"

"Very! You just had to say all of that didn't you?"

"Of course I did! I mean look at it this way, you are about to start a new life. By the end of the night you will no longer be just apart of our family but his as well. Now be a good girl and get ready to walk down the aisle." Laci said as she hugged Ellie. She headed to the door.

"Hey Laci," she called.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Hey what else am I good for? Someone has to be the big sister around here."

"And you do a wonderful job." Ellie said with a smile.

"Well we owe you a lot Ellie, without you we wouldn't have gotten to where we are today."

The music started playing and Jason straightened up. His eyes traveled down the aisle, at the end of it stood Lord Richard and Ellie. He gasped when he saw her. She didn't wear a traditional white dress; instead it was a deep red color. It had short sleeves, revealing her bare arms. The front was cut relatively low and it fit her almost like a second skin. It hugged every inch of her, showing off her curves. The veil was wrapped around her golden tiara and her brown hair was pulled back so that it fell in curls at the back.

Ellie looked out over the large group of people. There we so many but she forgot them the second she set eyes on Jason. He wore a pair of slight loose breeches in a dark blue color. He wore a very nice fitting red tunic with his usual blue and gold jacket. It showed off his broad shoulders and very muscular chest. She bit her bottom lip as she met his eyes. The look in them sent chills down her spine.

As she got closer to the front she turned to look at all of her family. Each of them smiled wide, Rian had tears streaming down her face. Risa also had tears in her eyes as she watched Ellie.

They had finally reached the end of the very long aisle, and Jason held out his hand to her. She slowly removed her hand from her father's, smiling at him the whole time. His hand was warm in hers as the two moved to stand before the pastor.

"Who here gives Lady Ellie away?" He said in a loud voice.

"I Lord Richard hereby give away Lady Ellie." Her father said clearly.

The rest of the wedding seemed to blur in Ellie's memory, the only thing she could remember was looking in Jason's eyes. His green eyes held hers the whole entire time. She couldn't even remember if she said her vows right but when the pastor said 'you may now kiss the bride,' she realized she must have said them right.

Jason leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. It was far too short for either of them but that really didn't seem to matter much at the moment. After they left the chapel they climbed back into the carriage. They would go back to the castle to change before coming to join in the city wide celebration.

Jason sat down beside her in the carriage and she set her head on his shoulder. "You look beautiful," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arm around her.

"You look very handsome," she told him as she moved closer to him. He slid his fingers into hers and smiled wide. He gently lifted her head up so he could look into her blue eyes. A small smile curved her lips. Leaning down he gently kissed her. Not satisfied with this she pulled his head closer. Tilting her head back a little further, he deepened their kiss. She tasted sweet and he was having a very bad craving. He pulled her closer and slid his tongue into her mouth. She let out a low moan and let her fingers run through his hair.

He shivered when her hand ran down his chest. He pulled back and placed small kisses on her jaw line. Ellie turned her head and kissed his neck. Her mouth was warm against his neck. She slowly moved down his neck, enjoying the fact that he shivered at her touch. Suddenly she pulled back and moved to the other side of the carriage. Jason sat gazing open-mouthed at her.

"You seriously didn't just do that," he said.

"Do what?" She asked sweetly.

"You just did that and then you are gone."

"I didn't do anything! You started this whole thing not me. Besides you can't be wound up at the celebration can you?"

He moved to the other side of the carriage and pulled her close to him. "I'm already wound up," he whispered to her.

"To bad for you then, now off of me, I don't want to mess up my dress!"

"Fine, fine, just throw me off the side why don't you," he huffed as he let her go, moving as far away from her as possible.

"Finally, now I won't have to worry about you bothering me!" She laughed at the look on his face. The carriage came to a halt before he could reply. Ellie practically jumped out of the carriage. Jason laughed as she spun in circle. "Fresh air," she said happily.

With another laugh he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Calm down, you don't want to be too tired for the celebration do you?"

"No of course not! Does that mean we have to go back to dancing court style?"

"Unfortunately we have too. Though I am sure we can slip away to the other, less court-like celebration."

"Great! Come on let's get ready." The two headed down the hall to his room.

"Wait," he said suddenly.

"What?" Without another word he picked her up and kicked open his door. "It's tradition."

"Is it also tradition to mess up the bride's dress?"

"Well that was supposed to come later."

She pushed him away as soon as she was standing. "You can wait," she said in finalization as she disappeared to change. He laughed quietly as he changed into simpler clothes and put his crown away. Ellie coughed making him look up.

She wore a simple blue gown that made her eyes gleam brighter. "You look_ great_," he said with a sly grin. She spun slowly and he gaped. The back of her dress was cut down to the middle of her back.

"You should close your mouth," she said with a huge grin.

"Why? You look amazing," he said pulling her into a hug.

"Oh no you don't, you are not messing up this gown!" Jason whined and she kissed him quickly on the lips. "Come along, we have to go present ourselves, my dear husband."

"Can't we skip all of that?"

"No, so come on," she whined this time. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of their room. The carriage sat waiting for them. "I say we walk."

"Won't you get your dress dirty?"

"No, besides why do we have to do _every_thing the traditional way?"

"Alright, alright," he waved the carriage on and the two headed into town. As they got closer the sound of music began to ripple through the night air. Hundreds of people had poured into the streets, making the two weave through the crowds. "We walked why?"

"What can't frolic with your own people?" She smirked at him. He only shook his head as they continued on through the crowd. Ellie could see all of her sister's sitting at the table. Their mother's were in a heated discussion about where they had 'run off' too.

Rian, of course, was the first to spot them. She ran to her sister, hugging her and Jason tightly. "Mother is flipping out."

"Not surprising," the two said at once.

"Ellie!" Risa called.

"Jason!" The queen said. They both traded looks before approaching their parents. "Why didn't you arrive in the carriage?"

"I thought it would be nice to walk," Ellie put in before Jason could say anything. "It was just such a nice night and all, I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's alright. Go eat," she said quietly. The two took their seat and dinner was served.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" She asked him.

"Get out of trouble so easily?"

"Skill, now hush and watched the entertainment." A few bands played for a bit. Once dinner was finished Jason engaged her in a stupid game.

"Attention, attention please," Laci called. Ellie turned to gaze at her older sister. The crowd had silenced to look up at them. "In honor of our sister's wedding we have decided to grace them with a bit of musical entertainment. Ellie, would you care to join Rian?"

In a second Ellie was up and at her younger sister's side. The other sister's approached their places. Jason looked to find the two girls gone. He frowned but turned his attention back to the other girls.

"Now tonight we will be having the triplets singing a song to honor the present King and Queen, while the two dancing will be in honor of the future King and Queen." May said as she too took her position.

The music slowly began with a low melody that flowed slowly. Then the three began to sing, their voices were low but soon got louder. Suddenly Sara and Olria's voices flowed in, joining the triplets. Their voices faded as Tammy's took over, dominating the others. Anne and Talya were the first to appear and begin to dance. They wore the same red dresses from Laci's birthday celebration. Their steps were slow and deliberate, bring the musical pace down drastically.

Suddenly Ellie and Rian appeared, wearing the same dresses as well. They challenged the two sisters and moved faster, altering the pace between fast and slow. Jason was captivated. She really was enchanting when she danced and he couldn't tear his eyes off of her. He bit his lip hard when she turned to look at him, her eyes dancing with happiness. Suddenly the speed changed again, picking up a faster pace than before.

The singing itself had dropped off as Laci's violin took effect in the last few stretches of the song. Talya and Anne had ceased their own dancing, standing beside the six who had been singing. The instruments continued to play, rising higher into the night. It was amazing to watch Rian and Ellie move with such ease and grace.

Then it stopped and as one the girls bowed. Applause broke out among the group of watchers. Ellie turned to face her husband and was pleased to see his eyes had glazed over. She indicated in another direction and he quickly got to his feet. Jason caught her when they got in the shadow of a building. He bent down to kiss her but she pulled away.

"Oh no you don't, I know that look in your eyes."

"And you are avoiding it why?" He questioned leaning against the wall.

"Avoiding it? Who said I was avoiding it? I am just having my fun," she said with a sweet smile. Jason lifted her hand and kissed it lightly.

"I will get my revenge my sweet wife."

"Then I shall continue to return such a favor. Now what do you say to going back to our favorite pub?" She whispered leaning into his chest.

"What do you say to heading back to the castle instead?"

"Nope, I want to dance and you will not spoil my fun." She pressed herself more against him.

"Fine, we will go dancing." Ellie let out a happy cry and dragged him off in the direction of the pub.

Laci grinned as she watched her sister drag her husband off to a small pub. Arthur appeared beside her, kissing her cheek. "What are you looking at my dear?"

"I see my sister has already gained influence over her poor husband. He has no idea what he is getting himself into," she whispered back turning to face him. She gave him her classic smile, one that was a bit more used than Ellie's.

"Oh no, I know that look. I will not be doing anything that involves me doing something embarrassing."

"No that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking of going to join my sister and her husband for a bit of _real_ dancing."

"Oh that would be wonderful. No more lame court dancing for us my love!" Arthur quickly pulled her in the direction of the pub. They pushed open the door and were greeted with the sound of loud music. Laci smiled as she watched her sister dance. "Wow she is breathtaking when she dances."

"Hey, no hitting on my _married_ sister please."

"I'm not, I am just wondering if you have that same spark in you," he whispered in her ear.

"Only one way to find out." Laci mumbled as she dragged him out onto the dance floor.

Ellie grinned when she saw her sister. "I was wondering if you'd come." She called over the music.

"And pass up the chance to dance like I have wanted? Never! Now tell me dear sister why have you been hiding this from us?"

"The joys of enjoying myself," she grinned as she pulled Jason closer to her. He rolled his eyes but conceded to her wish. "Besides you would all have found out eventually, so shut up and enjoy the night."

Laci laughed and pulled Arthur closer.

They lost track of time so it was about midnight when the four stumbled out of the pub. "Oh how I have missed that!" Laci said with a grin.

"I know! Just wait till the others find out. I don't know how we lived without doing that," Ellie said as she snuggled closer to Jason. He held her closer, kissing her lips lightly. This seemed to jump start her body. She leaned closer to him, drawing his gaze back down to her. With a quick movement she pulled his head back down to hers, kissing him slowly before pulled back with a smirk.

"You are so cruel to me," he whispered huskily to her.

"Only you."

**A/N: Alright everyone, I have done a four chapter update I hope you all like it, I did it as best I could I really hope you all enjoy and the 12th is halfway done right now andthis one is where it really gets interesting, but you will eventually meet all the men in the story so I hope you like it. thanks again to everyone who reviews. **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Attack

Ellie walked slowly through the garden at the palace. A smile curved her lips as she enjoyed the quiet before her sister's wedding. The sun warmed her face and arms. It was so peaceful and she loved it. She preferred the quiet to a lot of company, it seemed easier to think and breathe than it would be in a large group of people.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned back. "Hello," she mumbled happily.

"Hello, what are you doing out here?"

"I wanted some fresh air. It was such a beautiful day; I couldn't pass up the chance to be out here."

"So I wake up to find you gone, that's not very nice my dear." Jason muttered as she turned to face him.

"Well I am not sorry, I wanted some fresh air. Besides I remember plenty of times I woke up and you were no where to be found, namely in the _middle_ of the _night_."

"Alright you win, you win."

"I know," she smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Have you eaten anything?"

"No I haven't, I'm not really hungry actually."

"That's too bad; well I will go get something to eat."

"Alright, I will see you later then?"

"Of course," he kissed her quickly and headed back into the castle. She shook her head as she continued her walk around the gardens. Somehow she had managed to get to the far end where most of the more amazing flowers grew.

A twig snapped and she spun around. "Well, well, well, I didn't realize it would be _this_ easy to find you alone." A cold voice echoed from under the hooded figure.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"I want my revenge Ellie. You and your whole family will be paying handsomely for what you have done to me." Five more figures appeared from no where. Ellie took her usual stance. _How did I forget my _sword_? I never forget that! Oh well, looks like I will have to take care of this the old fashion way_.

"Really? Revenge for what? I don't believe I know who you are."

"You will know but that time is not now. Of course, before you are dead you will remember my name and my face. I do hope you realize how pitiful you look. Where is that brilliant sword of yours? I have never seen you without the beauty." The cold voice said slowly as if taunting her.

"Well it just means that you will be able to see my hand-to-hand combat skills. I need a bit of a refresher course that is," she spread her legs a bit further apart. She was very glad it wasn't one of her more restrictive dresses.

"Oh no you won't! Catch!" Tammy exclaimed. Ellie reached up, grasping the hilt of her blade and spinning it quickly in her hand. Tammy moved to stand beside her, her own sword ready.

"Nice timing, I was beginning to wonder."

"You shouldn't I always come. "

"Oh stop your mindless chatter!" The figure snapped. "I am tired of looking at any of you! You are all a very big pain in my side. Now I can take out the strength of this family shortly."

"Did it just call us weak?" Tammy exclaimed.

"I do believe it did! What a shame, I was really hoping to avoid bloodshed. To think we are _weak_, I have never been so insulted in my life."

"I said _shut up_!" The figure dashed out at Ellie, who quickly brought up her blade. The two hit and jumped back, the battle had begun. Tammy blocked for Ellie, fending off the other five attackers. She did her best to only stun them but that wasn't that easy.

"This is just _lovely_, I didn't want to get blood on my dress," Tammy whined.

"I'll be sure to get that out when we are done here," Ellie muttered as she sidestepped another shot. "You're a bit slow; come on now you can't be _that_ bad." The blade swung down, barely missing her arm. "Still not fast enough."

She kicked out, the figure slammed into a tree. She lunged and cut their arm. The figure kicked her stomach, making her stumble back. They were locked in a battle with their blades again. They continued on back and forth, neither gaining nor losing any ground. The figures blade sliced across Ellie's back and she screamed. Turning, the blade cut across the figures other arm.

Ellie tried to duck the next attack but her foot had caught. She fell and the blade cut her thigh and chest. With a loud thunk she hit the ground. Rolling she kicked out, hitting the person in the face. The sound of yelling broke the battle. "This is not over!" With that the figure vanished.

Ellie swore under her breath as she got to her feet. Jason came sprinting over to her, guards at his heels. "It went that way," Ellie pointed. Tammy was supporting her by now.

"What the hell happened?" Jason cried as he picked Ellie up.

"Ellie was corned in the garden, with these lug heads."

"Whoever it is has a grudge against the family. Remind me never to leave my blade Tammy."

"I was very surprised you didn't have it on already. How could you be so careless?"

"I don't have any idea. Well that is a lesson I won't soon forget." She laid her head on Jason's shoulder as they headed back into the castle.

"How did you get cut?"

"My foot caught on a stupid branch and I couldn't block and get my footing at the same time. "

"Ellie! You were taught much better than that," Tammy complained.

"Oh yes I know that but that doesn't mean I can't get careless now and then. I haven't been out practicing like I should. I should probably start doing that again. I don't want a repeat of what happened earlier."

"Do you always talk this much when you are injured?" Jason questioned.

"Yes," her and Tammy chimed together.

"If I don't talk then I can feel the pain, it's a distraction of sorts if you _must_ know."

"Either that or she just faints." Jason looked down and sure enough she was out. Shaking his head he laid her down in their bed. Her face twisted from the pain on her back and he shifted her onto her side. Blood now covered her clothes, his clothes, and their covers.

"I think now would be a good time to call for a doctor," Tammy said as she ran from the room.

Jason sat down and removed her over gown. He quickly ripped the already ruined dress into long strips, which he quickly tied around her wounds. She mumbled in her unconscious state and tried to roll over. Jason held her in place. She winced and he realized her back was cut open. He quickly rolled her onto her side and adjusted the bandages.

Four healers came running in, followed closely by Tammy, Rian, Risa, Laci, and his mother. The healers pushed him away and began getting to work on Ellie. He ignored the fact that his hands, face, arms, and clothes were covered in blood.

_Please let her be safe! Oh please let her live through this_, he thought to himself. His mother tried to get his attention but it wasn't going to happen. He had eyes only for Ellie, who was being examined thoroughly by the healers.

Rian was pale and she looked like she was going to be sick. Both of her sister's wrapped their arms around their youngest sister, hoping to keep her calm. Ellie gasped and opened her eyes. She groaned as the pain came back in huge waves.

Her vision was blurring and her head was pounding. Her back ached, as well as her chest and thigh. Tears unknowingly slipped down her cheeks as the pain settled in. "Stay still," one of the healers snapped. She only nodded her head in consent. She was vaguely aware of the voices that sounded behind her.

Suddenly Jason knelt in front of her line of vision. It was still very blurry but she knew it was him. His hand reached out to stroke her cheek and she felt as if some of the pain had lifted. Her hand twined with the one on her cheek. "Everything will be fine, I promise," he whispered to her.

"I-It h-h-hurts," she managed to get out.

"I know, love but it will be alright." He leaned closer so she could vaguely seem him better. "Just rest now alright?"

Ellie nodded her head, the two were oblivious to their surroundings. Her three sisters watched the two of them with interest. Tammy had a smug smile on her face, Laci had a soft smile and Rian frowned slightly.

They remained in the room until the healers were done. "What do you have?" Risa asked, looking at her pale daughter.

"She is fine. The wounds weren't deep and she was very lucky. It just means that she is in need of some serious bed rest."

"I-I-I can't," Ellie moaned, startling everyone. "I can't miss Rian's wedding."

"No, Ellie, you are too weak, I don't want you to overtax yourself." Rian said as she hurried to her older sister's side.

"She's right Your Highness," the healer replied calmly. "You will not be able to get up and around for another two days. Your body is already quickly recovering, you will need no more than a week and a half in bed, if even that. I suggest you remain in bed and I will come see you in three days. If I believe you are well enough you will be allowed out of bed but only for a short time. I must be going. Good day Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, Ladies."

"Ellie you can't go," Risa said firmly.

"I am not missing her wedding, I refuse to miss that!" Ellie said in defiance to her mother.

"It's not wise at all," the Queen said in a slightly commanding voice.

"I am sure things can be arranged," Jason put in quickly, drawing attention to him. "The wedding is in two days, that is only one short of when the doctor will come. I am sure we can arrange a way for Ellie to leave the room long enough to attend Rian's wedding. After a bit of resting I am sure we can let her come to part of the ceremony after. Now, I suggest everyone leave and let Ellie have her rest." Jason said in a voice that left no room for argument.

"We will see," Risa said as she ushered the girls from the room. The Queen shook her head and left as well.

"Jason, you aren't mad are you?" She asked in a weak voice.

"No, not at all. I understand your wanting to see Rian's wedding. As much as I disapprove of your being up and moving I would think it better to let you. Now it is time to sleep my dear."

"Stay with me," Ellie said. "Please?"

"Of course," he said as he climbed into bed beside her. He was careful not to hurt her sore back. She leaned back against him and made sure he didn't hurt her cuts. Before long she was sleeping peacefully, her arms holding Jason's to keep him in place.

Jason waited until Ellie was asleep before moving but found she had held him tightly in place. With a soft smile he kissed her neck and rested next to her. This attack wasn't going to go over well. He was positively furious that something like this could happen in his own castle! There were need of new guards and stricter discipline.

_How could I let this happen to her? What was I thinking leaving her alone like that? She could have been killed._ The thought of losing Ellie brought tears to his eyes. He couldn't lose her, he just couldn't. Sensing his pain she snuggled back against him, making him smile. _At least she is safe now._

**A:N/ I know this chapter was fairly short but Jason and Ellie will be only in the next two chapters beforeI let them go have a bit of a 'break' while you will be introduced to the rest of the sisters in more detail and their future husbands. However, I am really not sure if I plan to continue this story or not. I haven't gotten very many reviews and it is slightly depressing, I have gotten hits but no reviews so I am not really sureif I will continue on with this story or not. But those who are actually reading, thanks I suppose, I just wish you'd all review! Well of to work.**

**Seritha**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Rian's wedding

Rian sat reading a book by her sister's bed. Jason had left a few hours ago and Rian had come in to find Ellie fast asleep. The doctors came in an hour ago and changed her bandages. She had slept through the whole thing, something about a medicine that kept her asleep. Rian knew she should be getting ready for her wedding but she didn't have the heart to leave Ellie here.

She had tried her hardest to postpone the wedding but his parents refused to wait any longer than was necessary. This had infuriated not only Rian but Daniel as well. They had both fought to get it pushed back for Ellie's sake but they thought nothing of it. Rian had left in a rush, furious at how they disregard the future queen. Daniel had chased after her but she heard nothing he said.

With a sigh she continued to read her book, unaware that Ellie had woken up. She frowned when she saw her younger sister beside her. _Why isn't she getting ready? The wedding is only in a few hours!_ Struggling to sit up she caught Rian's attention.

"Lay down Ellie, you can't strain yourself you know that."

"What in the world are you still doing here Rian? You should be getting ready for your wedding."

"My maid already did my hair; I only have to put on the dress. I didn't like leaving you here. I hate when you get yourself hurt like this Ellie. You lose to much blood and its even a miracle that you live through all of that!"

"I am just as amazed as you are sister but I can't' always help what happens to me. I think we should all restart our training."

"We should have been doing that in the first place but we never thought much about it. However, the girls have already begun to get to work on that immediately so that's a plus. You, however, still have to wait."

"I know that Rian. Why are you here?"

"I told you I didn't want to leave you by yourself. I hate watching you just lay there, you're supposed to be up and moving around like the rest of us."

"I know Rian but things happen and I'd rather it be me then any of you."

"Yes well we would rather it be the other way around," Rian said as she finally set down her book. Her blue eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "It's torture on the rest of us when you aren't around."

"You all knew one day that we would have to work on our own. I won't always be there to help you all. I know for a fact that this won't be the first time I will be stuck in bed for weeks now that I am Princess. Things change Rian, you know that, you need to be strong for the others. You all need to be strong. I know you all can do it, you don't need just me to show you that."

"It's hard to adjust to Ellie. We'll all be married and move away. How many times will we write? Or be there for each other? We will not see as much of each other when we have our families. I'm the youngest and the second to be married. I don't like how this is working."

"We all know that Laci was going to be married first but thanks to Ally things changed drastically. The problem is now that the rest of them will be marrying sooner or later. No this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Father was slowly going to introduce the rest into the family but instead there is a balanced hatred between the rest. May would rather kill the man she has to marry, not that I can blame her."

"What about the others? I mean they don't like who they will marry."

"No they don't but we can't worry about that, that's going to work out fine. Now go, get ready for _your_ wedding Rian."

Rian dropped her head, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. Ellie reached up to lift her sister's gaze to meet her own. "Rian, everything will be alright. I am sure Jason is working hard to figure out what happened to me. Don't worry about me or the rest of us. Today is _your_ day to be happy. We all love you and yes it will be hard to keep in touch but we will never be too far away."

Her sister barely nodded her head. "I'll try my best to be happy."

"Rian, you are about to marry a wonderful man, you shouldn't have to try. Now go get yourself ready."

"Alright," Rian said a little defeated.

Rian paced back and forth. She was wondering if Ellie and Jason made it yet or not. She couldn't get married if she didn't come. "You remind me of Ellie on her wedding day," Laci said calmly from the door.

Jumping, she turned to face her eldest sister. "Oh you scared me Laci. What are you doing in here?"

"I am playing the role of big sister, what else would I be doing?" Laci commented as she closed the door behind her and approached her baby sister. "Look at you just turned sixteen and already about to walk down the aisle. I'm twenty-four and just got the love of my life back. Amazing how things work out."

"Very amazing. To think so many things could have turned out differently." Rian said looking off into the distance.

"It could have. For instance, I could have been married four years ago and already have two kids. Or Ellie would not be lying in bed hurt just after her wedding day. Then of course it could just as easily be May, Sara, or Anne who is in your place right now. The fact is that things are as they are and we have to bite our tongue and continue on with our heads held high. That is all we can really do at the moment.

"Whatever is going on I am sure will be solved. It's very hard to be happy when Ellie is hurt very badly but it's nothing new to us, yet it still hurts. She wouldn't want us brooding over how things could have been different or why it is the way it is, she wants us happy and having fun." Laci laughed quietly. "I came in here the night that Ellie was going to be married and she was worried about all of us. It's so odd how the tables can turn so quickly. She'd willingly give her life to protect anyone of us. Tammy came away without a scratch on her."

Rian sighed and slumped into the nearest chair. "That's true but we would all do the same for each other. We are _family_, that means we will always be together to protect each other. It's hard to lose our stability but Ellie said we need to learn to stand on our own."

"She's right you know."

"I know."

"We all have always looked to Ellie, who seemed to grasp things quicker and easier than the rest of us but it wasn't going to last forever. She wants us all to be able to take care of ourselves on our own and be able to make it through the difficult times. I look back at this and I can still remember the first time I had seen her. Your mother was holding her and sitting in a small rocking chair. She had been staring out the window, her gaze distant. I was only five then but the memory still stands out.

"I slowly approached her, my gaze settling on a sleeping Ellie. She was so small. Risa smiled when she saw me standing beside her. 'She's beautiful,' I had whispered to her. 'She is and she will become a great woman one day. She'll show the world what women are made of. No matter what she'll always remain strong,' she had said back to me. I didn't really realize it then but I do now. She has never given up hope on anything.

"The day she became so sick and we almost lost her, she came back. The healers told us she wouldn't live through it, it was destroying her body but it's like that didn't matter, like it was only words to her."

"When she got kidnapped the whole house was frantic," Rian put in. "I was so little then but I could only grasp the fact that my big sister was gone. I had been going out of my mind and I was crying into May's shoulder. You all were sitting around, quite, unable to really do or say anything. Suddenly the door opened to reveal Jason and Ellie. It was funny how he was the one that found her. Said she was unconscious and there were four larger men knocked out around her. I still wonder to this day how at that age she managed to take out four full grown men."

"I think we all wondered that ourselves. Jason held her in his arms as he marched to her room. I don't think he ever left her side until she finally woke up. I doubt she remembers much of the experience. I came in not long after she had woken up. It was very surprising to find her crying into Jason's shoulder. The two were oblivious to me when I came in so I left. I spoke to father shortly after and he told me all about the arranged marriages, Jason knew it as well."

Rian sighed again. "All this time, all of those things that happened. How could she do it? How could she just hold her head high and march on like nothing had ever happened?"

"She's strong Rian, she always has been. Her strength kept all of us going. Ellie told you all that is was father's idea to make us train with weapons after Ellie's accident but it was really her. She convinced father of the need for us to learn to defend ourselves." Laci mumbled. "I look at her and see how much she has done for the rest of us. She's protected all of us at one point or another in our lives. Nothing would stop her from protecting her family, even if she was going to bleed to death."

The two sisters sat in silence, each lost in past memories that only they knew. "Nothing will ever stop me from protecting my family, even if I am half dead." Ellie remarked from the doorway. They turned to see her. She was slightly pale but color still dominated her face. Her breathing was slightly labored but she held herself up with composure. "Before mother left, just after Rian was born she told me something that made me realize a lot. I made a promise right then and there to watch over each of you no matter what was wrong with me. I swore never to allow you to suffer in ways that I wouldn't want to.

"When I found out about Arthur I spoke to our dear cousin. That's why she never showed up after that day. She left that night and I told her not to return."

"But you said you had no idea! When she came that's what you said to me," Laci said startled.

"I did of course. You weren't about to listen to reason and I realized that in a way I let you down. I couldn't do anything to help you, only Arthur could do that but you pushed him away. I tried to speak with you myself but you weren't listening so I gave up hope. I knew that he was coming back when he did."

"You knew the whole time didn't you? You knew all of this and you never said anything?" Laci demanded.

"There is a lot I know that you all don't. I wasn't the middle child for nothing you know. I came here to watch my baby sister take her walk down the aisle. I also came to enjoy myself for the little time I can manage to stay awake. Everything will be cleared up in time, I promise." Ellie turned but Rian called out to her.

"You promised to take care of us Ellie but you were so young then. You took over a role that wasn't necessarily yours, why?"

Ellie turned back to face her two sisters. Laci looked at her expectantly, Rian a little wary. "I did it because I know what's coming. I love all of you, you are my sisters, you're my family. I wanted everything to work out the way it should. Oh just so you know, I took lessons with some of the knights before I was kidnapped." Ellie turned and strolled out.

"I hate when she does that," Laci snapped.

"Does what?"

"Tell us less than half of what she is hiding. She knows a lot and she holds it all inside of her. Something is coming and she is ready to take it on full force to protect us if need be."

"You'd do it for all of us as well," Rian said as she hugged her eldest sister. Laci hugged her back.

"Now no more depressing thoughts. Its time for you to walk down the aisle and start a new life."

"What about my old one?"

"That's done but we will always be here for you, you will always have us. Now, however, you have a new family to become a part of."

One week later…..

"All ready to get going my dear?" Jason questioned to Ellie. Ellie smiled up at her husband from where she sat on the couch.

"I've been ready for a while Jason. Are you sure you still want to go?" She questioned nervously.

"Of course I do. We need a vacation and time to ourselves. We've earned it, why are you wanting to go?"

"Of course I am! I would love to spend some time with you, just us but-"

"But you are worried about your family. They can take care of themselves. Now lets let this all go away and we can finally enjoy the time together we can."

Ellie smiled up at him and kissed him softly. "I love you," she whispered quietly.

"I love you too," he whispered back as he kissed her again. Slowly the two pulled away and headed down to the entrance hall.

"Ellie!" Rian cried as she practically tackled her older sister. Ellie laughed as she hugged Rian.

"Hello Rian, I see you are still just as hyper as ever."

"Of course! I enjoy seeing all of you!"

"Maybe one of these days Daniel can find a way to calm you down," Jason said with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around Ellie's waist.

"I already have found a few ways to do that," Daniel said as he kissed her. All the sister's had to cover their laughs at the glare Rian was giving him.

"You are such a brat," she snapped at Jason.

"Hey I didn't do anything."

"Did too," she mumbled as she pushed Daniel away from her. He chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug. "You go away."

"I don't think I want to."

"Alright you can settle this elsewhere besides in the entrance hall," May called to her younger sister. "You two be safe and don't get into any trouble."

Ellie eyed her husband warily who grinned wickedly. "I think I just got married to trouble."

"I am not _that_ bad thank you very much," Jason said as he puffed out his chest. Ellie poked him and he shrunk back.

"Yes you are. Now all of _you_ be safe and try not to get into any trouble while I am gone. I better not come back and find out that you all burned down my new home."

"Us? _Never_!" Anne said shocked. All of them laughed happily.

"Have fun you two," Laci said smiling. Ellie eyed her and smiled.

"You have fun as well," Ellie said with a huge grin. Laci laughed and hugged her sister.

"Bye you two!" May said as she shoved both of them to the carriage.

"I think they don't like me anymore!" Ellie called over her shoulder. "What am I to do now?"

"I have no idea, they may have to be uninvited to our ball when we get home!"

"That's not funny!" All of them cried back at them.

"You're right its hilarious!" The two called back.

"Hateful!" May cried.

"Stingy!" Ellie shouted back.

"Selfish!" Anne put in.

"Pain!"

"Annoying!" Rian cried now.

"Self-centered!"

"Obnoxious!" Tammy yelled this time.

"Jerk!"

"Stupid!" Laci called now.

"Fat head!"

"Aggravating!" Tallie piped up.

"Frustrating!"

"Exasperating!" Sara hollered.

"Book worm!"

"Arrogant!" Olria shouted now.

"Big head!"

"Conceited!" Talya got in.

"Proud!"

"Condescending!" Iliane said with a smirk.

"Haughty!"

"Patronizing!" Nora shouted.

"Pompous!"

"Snob!" Gira finished.

"Disgraceful!" Ellie called as she turned to face all of her sisters. They all smiled at each other. "Goodbye!" she called as she moved into the carriage with her husband. He pulled her into his lap and smiled wide.

"You all have an odd way of saying goodbye."

"Of course we do," Ellie told him with a smile.

"It's quite amusing."

"I'm glad you are enjoying it so much."

"Well it is amusing. My sisters already said bye to me."

"I know they came to say bye to me."

Jason nodded and kissed her lightly. "So what do you propose we do for the next two weeks."

"Go swimming of course."

The sisters all burst out laughing when the carriage disappeared. Arthur and Daniel exchanged amused looks. "Come along dear, you will be paying for your statement earlier," Rian said with a wicked grin as she pulled Daniel away from the others.

"Oh and exactly how do you plan to punish me?" They heard him ask as they disappeared around a corner.

"I'm hungry," Laci complained as she dragged Arthur off to go 'eat'. Each of the sisters dispersed and went to find something to do.

May was happy to see her sisters enjoying themselves so thoroughly. Things were beginning to look up. The halls were always hard to figure out. There were just too many for May to remember exactly where she was heading. After a while she began to hum as she walked down the portrait hall.

"Looks like you are doing well," a voice said from behind her. Her eyes narrowed and she stopped humming. She spun on her heels to face who spoke.

"Hello Richard," she said in an icy voice.

**A:N/ well I wasn't really willing to place this up but I did get at least two reviews soI suppose I will keep this going, I think. This one is a bit cheesy and short but I thought the sisters could have a bit of fun before things start to pick up. The next chapter is halfway done and all so it will be up as soon as I can get it up. Well thanks to my two reviewers, here is the next chapter. **

**Seritha**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: MEN!

"Ouch that's how you greet me after all we've been through," Richard said with a cocky grin. May's eyes iced over practically as she gazed at him. She turned on her heels and stalked away. "Wow there Princess calm down." Richard called as he caught up to her.

"What in world are you doing here," she hissed at him?

"I came to see how you were doing."

"Liar! Go away! I don't want to see your face."

Richard grabbed her arm before she could leave. "We need to talk."

"No we do _not_. Leave me alone."

"May, I need to talk to you."

"Whatever it is I don't _care_. I already told you to go away! I told you I never wanted to see you again! Now get out of my sight!" May wrenched her arm free and almost sprinted down the hall.

"We have to get married." Richard called after her and regretted it the second he let it slip out of his mouth. May spun, her face full of pure fury and hatred.

"WHAT!" She screamed, making him flinch.

"It's an arranged marriage. My parents told me that your father arranged it a few years ago. I was just told about the whole thing. We have to get married before the seasons end."

He could feel her icy gaze from you. "I'd rather die than marry _you_." May turned and stalked off with this.

Iliane was in the music room, playing the piano. Her voice slowly mixed in with the music. She had a low, sweet voice that would make everyone stop to listen. Iliane was a shy one and didn't really like to sing. The only person who ever heard her sing was Laci. All of them were close in their own way. Slowly her voice faded and she just played the piano. Her hands worked quickly and she stopped paying attention to what was going on around her.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she continued on through the song. (A: N/ The song is depressing, I am not much of a song writer so I can't really put one in here, sorry) Her tears came so quickly that she finally had to stop what she was doing. Her mind raced back to past memories.

Thoughts that still continued to haunt her even to this day. She had never told anyone how badly they tortured her. It was hard for her to open up after that day and she felt slightly guilty for never telling her sisters the truth._ Everyone had secrets, so why shouldn't she?_ She thought to herself.

"Iliane?" She looked up quickly and gasped.

"R-Randall?" she muttered, as if not sure what she was seeing.

He gave her a small smile. He brushed back the blonde hair that feel into his blue eyes. "It's been too long," he muttered quietly. Iliane could see the tears in his eyes.

"It's been eight years, they told…told me you…you…." Her voice broke off.

"They lied, I was fine, well after about a week of resting that is." Randall took a step towards her.

"But why?" she questioned.

"They held a grudge against your family but I didn't care. I couldn't leave till I was eighteen so I came to see you. Your father said you were all staying up here and I am sad to say I missed your sister's weddings."

"I've missed you so much, I thought I would never see you again," Iliane said quietly.

"You're my best friend Iliane, I couldn't leave you alone." Randall commented as he moved to kneel in front of her.

"You're my best friend too Randall." She hugged him tightly and cried into his shoulder. He held her close, not really wanting to let her go. It took almost twenty minutes before she had calmed down enough to talk again.

"Now what were you crying about?" He whispered to her, not willing to let her go just yet.

"You actually. I've missed you so much, I had no idea what I was going to do. I guess I just realized how my family was starting to go off in their separate ways and how I couldn't get on without them. Ever since that night…." She trailed off again.

"I was shocked that night too."

"Iliane? Randall?" Sara questioned a bit stunned. The two turned to face five of her sisters. Rian stood beside Sara. Nora, Tallie, and Gira stood behind them.

"Randall? We all thought…." Rian dropped off, not sure what to say.

"I am sorry you all thought that."

"Iliane! You've been crying!" Tallie cried as she went to her older sister's side. Iliane let her sister hug her tightly. "What in the world is going on? First Arthur returns and Laci has a break down. We just saw May storm off in a fury and we saw Richard. Now you are here, practically back from the dead!"

Sara and Rian exchanged glances. "What were you crying about Iliane?" Sara asked softly as she knelt beside her sister.

"I was just remembering the night that I thought Randall was gone," she said in a weak voice.

"What happened that night?" Sara demanded of Randall.

With a sigh Randall told what happened. "You all know that Iliane and I had decided to head into town. We were going to spend the day just having some fun. We never really thought anything would happen. It was about four hours after we left that it happened. Iliane and I were sitting outside the town when we heard the screams. Running back into town we got caught up in the huge commotion. Apparently some of the rogue fighters were storming through town. I did my best to try and get her out of town.

"We were almost out when they caught us. There were two of them, two large men. They started saying some very obscene things and I made sure Iliane was behind me. It all happened so fast. I woke up in my room back home. My parents were sitting near my bed. When I woke up I started asking about Iliane but my parents refused to let me go see her or speak to her again. They blamed her for what happened. I woke up with a deep gash on my back and my chest. I almost died from blood loss."

Sometime during his speech Iliane had freed herself from Tallie and moved to Randall. He held her tightly to him. "I watched them attack him to protect me. I just remembered screaming for someone to help him, they came but when they did I blacked out. When I asked about what happened to him they just said they think he didn't make it. After that was a bit of a blur. I remember breaking down and crying to Ellie. She told me to write and see what happened but I never got a response from his family."

"Ellie knows?" Rian asked amazed. Iliane nodded her head.

"She was the one who brought me home that day. Apparently she had been in town that day for some reason and found me. I was so scared and in shock I didn't do anything."

"Wow, she really is everywhere," Rian mumbled under her breath.

Randall stroked her hair, calming her down. "We are glad to see you are well and alive Randall. It's been too long," Sara whispered. With that she ushered her sisters out of the room. Iliane curled more into him.

"I'm sorry Iliane."

"For what?"

"Leaving you like I did, I never meant that too happen to you."

She turned bright blue eyes on him. "It's not your fault Randall. I am just glad to know you are alright. I've missed you so much," her voice cracked and she hid her face in his chest again.

It had been years since she was last with him. She hated his family for what they did. What did her family do to them? She didn't understand it. It not only been the fact that he was her best friend but that she had started to love him. At ten it may have seemed like it was impossible but it wasn't to her. When that happened it was like her life was gone.

There were so many times when her father or sister's poked and prodded at her to go dance with the men, who all seemed to think she was very beautiful but to her none of that mattered. Ellie had been supportive of her and was always there when she needed her. She remembered last year when she had gone through this Ellie had found her trapped away in her tower. It had been the day of his birthday and she had remembered everything.

It was probably the worst day of her life but she had gotten through it. Her sisters wouldn't be able to understand what she had gone through, the nightmares she continued to have for two years after the incident. Her room had been adjacent to Ellie's. Ellie would always come in and soothe her till she fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

She had missed him so much, the feeling of being in his arms again was almost overwhelming. Randall really couldn't say anything to her, it was so hard for him. After eight years of wondering and pain he had learned the truth. It was two days before his birthday and he had been furious. His parents had called to talk to him. They wanted to discuss marriage with him.

He remembered sitting with them in the small study. _"Randall you will be eighteen soon, you do realize what that means?" his father had asked him._

_"It means I have to get married soon, so that way I can produce an heir and continue on the family line." _

_"Precisely, I was hoping you would have realized this." His father had replied calmly. "You do realize Lady Ilora is very fond of you." _

_"I have noticed," he had to suppress the anger in his voice. Truth be told, the closer it came to his birthday the more he longed to see Iliane, even if for a moment. He had expected letters from her but when they never came he began to give up hope. _

_"Well I hate to hold you up, you have to meet with a few advisors." _

_"Good day Father," he said quietly as he left the room. He headed down the halls and was surprised to run into the head councilmen. _

_"Ah just the man I was looking for. I need you to sign a few papers for me." _

_"Of course my Lord," he had said as he followed him. "What will you have me sign?" He had asked when he entered the room._

_"Well we are here to make sure you sign the paper to prove the arranged marriage will now be in void." _

_"What arranged marriage?" _

_"Between yourself and Lady Iliane, Lord Richard's daughter of course." Randall blinked a few times and picked up the paper. His eyes scanned it and he let out a strangled cry. He stormed out of the room and went to see his parents. He threw open the door and startled his parents. They had been talking to a few Lords and Ladies._

_"How dare you! You never told me about my arranged marriage to Iliane! Is this why you have been keeping me from her?" He had practically screamed. _

_"If you will excuse us for a-" _

_"Answer me!" He snapped furiously at his parents. His father stopped talking and glared at his oldest son._

_"Of course that is why we have been keeping you from her. Do you think we would allow you to marry into _that_ family?" His father had laughed then, making his anger increase. "That girl was nothing compared to the other women you could and would have." _

_"We had to hide all of her letters that she sent you so you would think she hated you. It was so easy, you were so easy to get to believe," his mother sneered._

_At this point he slammed his fist hard into the desk, almost breaking his hand. "How dare you do this to me! How dare you call yourselves my parents after doing something like this! You had _no_ right to take her away from me!" Randall screamed defiance at his parents. _

_"She is worthless! Her whole family is worthless! How they managed to arrange Ellie to the Crown Prince shall be a mystery to me," his father snapped. "You should be grateful we spared you from that." _

_Randall's fist connected with his father's jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. His mother screamed and knelt beside him. "You bastard!" Randall ripped the paper into pieces as he stormed out of the room._

"Randall!" Iliane said a bit louder.

"Oh sorry what?" Randall asked as he looked down at her.

"Are you alright? You started shaking."

"I am fine, I was just reminiscing."

"About what?"

"When I found out the truth. I broke my father's jaw when I hit him."

Her eyes widened on hearing this. "You didn't!"

He nodded his head slowly. "I was so furious. They just kept on insulting you and they told me they had taken your letters away that you had sent me. I couldn't control my temper. All those years I thought you hated me," his voice cracked in the end.

"I could never hate you, I loved you too much for that to happen. I thought I had lost you, I thought you were gone."

Randall looked down at her, her eyes meeting his. He tilted her head up and kissed her softly. Her body tensed up but soon relaxed. It was a short kiss but that didn't seem to matter much. He cradled her body to his, never wanting to let go. "All this time…I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe they had taken you away from me. My parents tried to make me write the arranged marriage in void but I couldn't do it."

"Arranged marriage?" She squeaked, pulling back from him.

"Y-You don't know?" He asked shocked.

"I've not heard anything about an arranged marriage!"

Randall was a bit shocked by this news but not more of a shock then to Iliane.

"Yes well, Ellie hasn't quite informed the whole family on the current situation of their arranged marriages." Sara said, making them turn to look at her and Rian.

"You knew?" Iliane said shocked.

"I overheard Daniel and Jason speaking about it and Ellie had no choice but to tell us the truth. Father has arranged all of us to marry someone," Rian said slowly.

Iliane just looked at them all for a long moment, unsure of what to say. "Well I can't say its not that bad but when do you plan to tell the others?"

"Well Ellie was going to before she left but things got a little complicated. Actually while they are gone on their honeymoon the rest of them are supposed to show up." Sara recalled. She frowned for a moment then shrugged.

"Oh this is going to be a wonderful two weeks."

Randall nodded his head.

Nora sat in the kitchen talking to Laya when Erick walked in. He sat down beside her and dropped his head onto the counter. The two women exchanged looks.

"What's wrong?" Laya asked her son.

"Father is crazy! He wants me to come help him in the blacksmith shops. I didn't spend eight years training to become a knight to change to a blacksmith!"

"You are our _only_ son what did you expect of him."

"I like blacksmiths, they are really good people. Well the most of them. My father let me go work in one, that was about a year ago…" Nora said quietly, trying to remember.

"Really?" They both asked a bit stunned.

"Of course, actually Ellie was the one who took me, she's better at it then all of us. Actually she is pretty good with anything that has to deal with a blade. She's talented, like her mother is. For some reason she always seems to know when and where to be."

"That's a good trait for a queen." Laya said with a smile.

"I sure hope it is."

"It is," Erick and Laya said at once.

"Would you like to come with me?" Erick asked.

"That would be great. I haven't been in one in ages! Father banned us from town after the accident. I wonder…" Nora dropped off for a moment. "That would be great, when can I go?"

"How about tomorrow? I'll come get you in the morning?"

"Thank you! Oh I better go see if my other sisters have gotten into trouble again. Bye! I'll see you tomorrow!" With that Nora headed down the halls.

"Now what is really wrong?" Laya asked her son.

"Father says I am to wed and it's Nora."

"Oh that's spectacular! I can't believe it! This is most wonderful news. She is such a sweet girl and why didn't she tell me?"

"They don't know, its supposed to be a large announcement when Ellie gets back."

"Oh dear." Laya said quietly. Unknowingly a figure crept out of the kitchen. They hurried out of the castle and into the city.

"It's all set, she's leaving," the figure said into the shadows of a small Inn.

"Wonderful, we strike tomorrow."

**A:N/ Dun, dun, dun! The fun begins! Well now things are going to get a little more fun and thanks again to my two reviewers! You two really helped me finish up the rest of this chapter. The next will be a bit more exciting. Well thanks again I hope you keep reading!**

**Seritha**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Unbreakable bond of sisters

Gira and Tallie sat in the garden. They had been a bit bored for the past couple of days and felt the need to find some fresh air. Tallie was quietly singing a favorite song, while Gira hummed quietly beside her. It always felt awkward to sing without Nora around but lately they had slowly grown apart. The three of them had spent very little time together in the last few weeks. With a longing sigh Gira turned to look out over the city. She was sitting high in one of the trees, Tallie a few branches down from her.

"Look Tallie!" Gira said as she pointed towards their other sister.

Tallie stopped singing and looked to where Gira was pointing. "Whose he?" She called up to her sister. Nora was heading into town accompanied by a tall black-haired boy.

"I have no idea. Did she tell you she was going into town today?"

"No she hasn't spoken three words to me since we got here, unless it had to do with Laci's party."

The two sisters sighed heavily, finally realizing the gap that had appeared between them. They had always been close, they were triplets after all and they loved to play tricks on the court.

"Should we follow her?" Gira asked suddenly.

Tallie gazed up at her younger sister and smiled. "Let's do it!" The two scrambled down the tree in a hurry. They hurried after their sister, finally finding her again in the town square.

They were to far away to hear any of the conversation that passed between the two but they could tell she was happy. "Isn't she the happy one," Gira mumbled.

"It's good that she is. I don't think she gets out as much as the rest of us. She's almost as bad as Sara."

With a smile, they stopped where they were. Nora and the young man turned into a blacksmith shop. "So she's hooked herself a blacksmith!"

"I don't think she's 'hooked' anyone Gira. It's been ages since she was last in one. What do you say to doing a bit of shopping?"

Her sister perked up at this idea. "Let's go!" They turned and headed back into town, missing the large group of hooded figures heading towards the blacksmith shop.

The two sisters made their way over to a large display of jewelry. "Oh this would look _wonderful_ on Tammy!" Tallie said as she grabbed a large golden necklace.

"It would!" Gira said as she pulled it from her hand. They looked at each other, both their eyes going wide.

"NORA!"

The necklace fell from their hands, hitting the dirt below.

May was now safely locked away in a small room. She had her notebook flipped open as she wrote away. Her hand flew across the paper as she continued to pour her ideas out onto the paper in her lap. This was her escape, her way to free herself from the rest of the world around her.

Richard had continued to pop up in her way and she was beginning to get furious even more so then before. She ignored his every attempt to talk to her today and had finally gone into hiding.

Her mind worked in overdrive as she continued on with what she was doing. Every stray though of Richard was forced out of her head as she continued to write on. It took her about twenty minutes before she finally gave up on the story before her. With a disgruntled cry she tossed the whole notebook from her hands.

May was on her feet and pacing back and forth before the blazing fire. It was still the middle of the summer and she didn't know why the fires were still lit but she really didn't care at the moment. She was seriously temped to take the first carriage home just to avoid Richard.

_Why in the world am I still here? Ellie is going to be the one living here!_

_**Well maybe it's because you are about to be forced into an arranged marriage with the man you completely despise? **_

_I don't want to be in _any_ marriage! Why me? Why us actually? There is no way that it was only a handful of us that got stuck in this! _

_**Your right, that would be completely illogical if only six of you were actually placed in arranged marriages. **_

_Oh the horror of the whole situation. Why did father have to make me marry _him_ of all people? He had no right at all to do this!_

_**There is no other choice in the matter. You have to marry him and that is that.**_

_I most certainly will not be marrying that man! There isn't enough money in the world to make me want to marry him of all people. What is this a bloody marrying pool? _

**_I highly doubt your father considers you all as a 'marrying pool.' _**The voice in her mind told her sternly.

_Well he has a funny way of making it seem like we are human and have our own decisions to make in life! _

_**I don't think it was meant to come off that way. Look at it from his point of view. He has to raise thirteen daughters-**_

_His choice to have kids._

_**-and he has to take care of each of them. So how is he going to continue to take care of them if they aren't married? Your family is highly respected through out the country.**_

_That doesn't bloody well mean I can be handed off to the first man who can afford my keep!_ May was now furious with the voice inside of her head. She needed to do _something_, anything to get her mind of the problem presented in front of her.

**_Oh yes because it makes it so much better when you ignore the problem that needs to be solved now._**

_Alright let me go sock the boy in the jaw and alleviate some of this anger._

_**That won't help either.**_

_How will it not? It solves some of my anger issues._

_**Yes but it causes more a rift between the two of you. Which won't be good when you two have to be married!**_

_I am still against the marriage! I HATE that man! I refuse to marry him!_ With another frustrated sigh she threw the nearest object at the door, just barely missing her older sister.

"Whoa calm down there sis."

"Sorry Laci," May commented as she plopped down in her seat. She dropped her head into her hands and took a deep breath.

"So I take it you've been running into Richard a lot."

"You think!" She snapped.

"May…"

"What?"

"You have no excuse to act like this and you know it!"

"Oh really? Since when did I not have a right to be pissed off for losing my freedom?"

"You are not the only one who has lost that May!" Laci snapped at her younger sister. _Am I going to have to knock sense into all of their thick heads._

"Oh well at least you got off easy! At least it was someone you loved!"

"Do you think it was even easy to forgive him? Do you have any idea how much it hurt me May? No you don't! You just avoided any man who ever thought you interesting. Richard did and you forced him away. Now you hate him and its your fault!"

"Shut up!"

"You did this to yourself! You could have been happy, hell you could have been married already! How dare you act like everything is going wrong for you!"

"Shut up!"

"What right do you have to act like this? You don't have any! You have just ruined a perfectly good marriage due to your lack of ability to be close to anyone."

"SHUT UP!" May screamed as she got to her feet, Laci not a moment behind her.

"How dare you tell me to shut up!" Laci's face was only inches from her younger sisters. They were the same height but Laci was holding her head higher. "You brought this on yourself and you know that." Her voice was icy cold and her sister could only glare.

"I did _not_ bring this on myself! How dare you say such things to me! You have no idea what I've been through!" May shouted back at her sister.

"What then May? Tell me what happened! Let me help you!"

"You _can't_ help me, no one can! You will _never_ understand what happened to me. Don't you dare judge me for what I did to push him away. I could care less right now what happens but I will NOT go through with this marriage!"

"You have to, you are bound by law to do so!"

"I refuse! I will not marry him!" May said with a hint of pain in her voice. Laci took a step back, shocked at this admission. She eyes her sister, trying to decipher what had caused her sister to sound so pained. May's eyes gave nothing away, they were as passive as ever.

She stood up straighter under her sisters gaze and looked defiantly over her shoulder. Laci turned to see Richard standing there. His eyes had gone wide and he couldn't speak. He had heard the whole argument and like Laci, hadn't missed the pain that flowed through her voice.

"Stop looking at me like I am a bloody ghost! You heard me loud and clear and I suggest you leave me alone!" May snapped with such fury that the other two unconsciously took a step back.

"What happened May, tell me what happened."

May only glared at her sister. "You. Will. Never. Understand." She made to move the room but Laci had finally recovered and moved to block her way. Laci gripped her sister's arm tightly.

"Tell me what happened." She said quietly to her.

"No."

"May."

"You won't understand."

"Try me."

May searched her sister's eyes for a moment. "I…I was r-r-raped when I was younger. A year before I met Richard."

Laci was too stunned to move and May fled the room. Richard looked back and forth between the door and Laci. Suddenly her eyes welled up with tears. "MAY!" She screamed before running after her sister.

Nora took a deep breath as she entered the blacksmith shop. She was instantly hit with the smell of hot metal and sweat. It took her a moment to get her bearings again. "I've missed this."

"You've missed the smell of sweaty men?" Erick asked with a quirked smile.

"_No_, the feeling of being a blacksmith shop again." She didn't have much time to enjoy the feeling when a large group of hooded figures entered the shop. There were fifteen in all.

"Can I help you?" Erick asked. The two other blacksmiths stopped what they were doing and moved to stand behind Erick.

"We don't want any trouble with you three, just give us the girl and all will be well." The figure in front said.

Erick moved to stand in front of her and Nora looked around for a sword. It took her a moment to remember she was actually carrying hers today. She gripped the hilt tightly. "I'm afraid I can't let you have her." He was gripping the hilt of his blade as well.

"I suggest you step aside before we have to get physical." Nora then realized the two other blacksmiths held weapons in their hands.

Just then the door burst open to reveal her sisters, Tallie and Gira. "Whoa!" Tallie yelled as she ducked and rolled. She jumped to her feet, not but a few feet in front of Erick, Gira moved beside her sister.

"Hello sister! Aren't you glad we decided to tag along?" Gira said with a bright smile.

"Oh so glad!" Nora chirped as she took her place beside her two sisters, her blade drawn. Tallie held her bow in her hand, Gira twirling her short swords in her hands.

"So what do they want?"

"They were here to take me."

"What!" They both said at once.

"No one touches our sister!" Tallie said defiantly.

"I bet they were part of the attack on poor Ellie and Tammy, too bad they didn't get rid of all of them."

"Your sister is weak!" The front figure spat out. "She was lucky the guards came to spare her pathetic life."

The three sisters exchanged looks. "Did she-"

"-just insult-"

"-Ellie?"

"Yes I did and there is nothing you can do now, she's not here to protect her precious little sisters!"

"Hey!" Nora cried. "Just because you couldn't beat Ellie doesn't mean anything! She's one of the best swordsmen in the whole country!"

"Besides we _can_ use weapons on our own thank you very much."

"Lets just take this outside, I am tired of listening to this mindless babble!" Tallie snapped.

"Fine."

They all made their way outside. Nora was the first to strike, aiming for the front figure. Her blade clashed with its blade. The battle had begun.

Tallie was at ease, she just shot arrows. A man lunged at her but she easily dodged and lodged an arrow into his neck. Unlike her older sisters she had little restraint when it came to her sister's lives.

Gira was having fun playing around with hers. She continually knocked their blades from their hand. An arrow whizzed by her ear, hitting one of the men in his thigh.

"TALLIE!"

"What you were just playing around."

Gira huffed and knocked out her attackers.

Nora was still locked in a fierce battle with the head. Neither of them seemed to be able to advance on the other. She had a sneaking suspicion she was being set up. Sure enough the figure began to rain heavier shots down on her. Her arms were getting weaker by the second, so she resorted to dodging.

Her pace began to slow and she knew she was in trouble. Nora brought the blade up and took the next blow. The force of it made her arms wobble but she held them up. Gritting her teeth she shoved as hard as she could upward, rewarded with a huge cut across her attackers arm.

The figure twisted its blade and it dug sharply into Nora's side. She screamed out in pain and stumbled back. Tallie caught her before she fell and Gira stood in front of her.

"You bastard!" Gira screamed as she launched into the new attack. Fury added to her strength. Nora groaned as she tried to sit up.

"No stay down."

"I can't, Gira is going to get hurt!"

Nora shoved her sister away, ignoring the horrible pain that shot all through her body. Grabbing her bloody blade she jumped in front of Gira, her blade clashing with the others.

"NORA!"

"Shut up Gira." She pushed the person backwards and shoved Gira into Tallie. Nora was panting heavily by now, her body protesting her every move. They circled each other.

"Playing hero now aren't you?"

"Don't you dare hurt my family."

"Just like Ellie, she would be proud. Too bad you don't have her ability with a sword."

"Your right, if I did you would be dead."

The figure laughed a cold, harsh laugh. "No, now you will die." The figure launched into a harsh attack. It beat down heavily on Nora and her arms couldn't take it anymore. The flat side of the blade crashed into her shoulder. She crumpled to her knees and rolled to the side before the blade could kill her. Unfortunately she was too slow, the blade dug into her side.

**A/N: I feel a bit bad for doing this to Nora and May but lives aren't always perfect as I have shown in the relationships earlier (namely Arthur and Laci). But I thought a nice cliff hanger would do well for all of you. Well I hope you all enjoy and that you Cat and Mouse, your review really put a smile on my face and made me want to finish this chapter, actually write the whole thing today, in only a few hours mind but I hope you all like it and thanks again to everyone who has reviewed its really great to hear from all of you and thanks to those who read and don't review! **

**Seritha**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Trapped

May tore off down the halls, ignoring her sister's frantic calls. Laci ran after her sister, pushing herself to catch up with her. She burst through the door and headed right out into the small patch of trees. This was where Laci finally overtook her sister.

"May stop!" she cried as she finally pulled her sister to a stop.

"Let me go Laci!"

"No! Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you say anything!" Laci cried as she hugged her fiercely.

"Ellie knew, she told me to wait to the right time to tell all of you. I couldn't tell you, it was too horrible to tell you. I should have but I couldn't." May broke down, collapsing to the ground.

Laci sat down next to her, rocking her sister. "It's alright May, everything is going to be alright, I promise. You can get through this, I know you can." _Is Ellie _every_where? I mean that girl must know when something goes wrong with everyone of us._ Laci thought to herself.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" A voice said, making the two sisters look up. In front of them stood a group of hooded figures. There were nine in all. "I believe we have just caught ourselves two of the girls!"

"Who the hell are you?" Laci snapped.

"Well that is for me to know and you to find out…never actually. So what do you say to coming quietly and no one gets hurt?"

"Like hell I will." May said as she moved into a crouched position beside Laci. "You know Ally, being evil just doesn't suit you."

The figure in front pulled off her hood and Ally smiled. "Oh but my dear, idiotic cousin how could you think such a thing? Besides you are about to be three sisters short."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nora, Tallie, and Gira. Poor girls just got ambushed in the town! They won't survive and neither will any of you. Now that your dear, precious sister Ellie is gone, you have no one to protect you. How selfish of her. To leave her poor sisters at the mercy of others."

"How dare you call her selfish! Wasn't it her that carried you for over two hours to the nearest healer when you almost killed yourself?" May said in a cold voice. "She should have let you die that day."

"Well today you two die, along with those brat triplets of yours! Ellie will be the last to fall. I'll watch her squirm and suffer through the pain of losing her beloved sisters."

"You could never kill us. You'll never win, Ellie will be back soon, she was never away for long when we needed her. When she comes, you'll be dead before the day is through!"

Ally laughed at the two. "Your sister will be too weak and she is pathetic. It's time I got my revenge on you my dear cousin Laci. You won't live to see the day that I kill your pathetic excuse of a man. He couldn't even protect you, how sad is that?"

"No he couldn't but I could!" An arrow shot out of the trees and hit Ally square in the arm. Ellie calmly stepped out of the trees, a bow in her hand. "Yes Ally always was the talkative one weren't you? Never learned to shut the hell up when you should. Gave me plenty of time to get into place. You should really learn to put watches out."

"When did you get here?" Laci asked as she took the bow from Ellie.

"About a half hour ago. Jason went to help the triplets but I have a bad feeling Nora is in pain."

"She's just as valiant as you are Ellie."

"That's what I was afraid of." Ellie unsheathed her sword. "Now Ally, why don't you explain to them why you are out to kill them."

"NEVER!" Ally screamed. Ellie moved a step forward and the others moved as well.

"No, stay where you are." They both called to the others behind them.

"You should have died in your last battle." Ally sneered.

"You should have died that night. I've done nothing to you Ally, none of us have. It was my mother's fault don't take it out on us!"

"You're her daughter and she will get what she deserves as well."

"Take my life if you must but spare the others. They've done nothing to interfere in this, they don't even know. Take just me as payment for this."

"Ellie!" Laci cried.

"That is very brave of you Ellie. Sacrificing yourself for the benefit of theirs. Taking the heat for your mother's foolish mistake. Your father's own mistakes to try and save his children."

"This is not your battle! Do not fight this!" May said. "You can't win."

"But I will have won. I will end this, here and now. Tell the girls I love them. It's time I fixed what our parents have done wrong. This is not _your_ battle, this is mine. I chose to take the responsibility for their actions when they told me the truth. I've done what I must and that is all that can be asked." Ellie spun her blade and drove it into the ground.

"Yes, Ellie let's go." Ellie nodded her head and headed towards her older cousin.

"NO! Ellie you can't do this! You just can't!" Laci screamed.

Ellie turned to face her two eldest sisters. "I made my choice. Your lives are more important than mine."

"Don't say that! We all need you Ellie, you can't do this and you know it."

"May, Laci, I've got to do this. There is nothing more you two can say. I've made up my mind. Now go, go find the others."

Ally and Ellie began to walk away, the nine figures following behind them. She stopped one last time. "Tell Jason…tell him I love him."

Jason ran into the center of town. He could see the people had moved out of the way of the fierce battle. He knew he was too late when he saw the sword go into Nora. With a burst of speed he slammed into the figure, knocking them hard to the ground.

Gira and Tallie flanked him, guarding his sides. The figure crawled to its feet and turned to look at the castle. "You are too late, Nora will never live with that wound. You've lost."

"No! You won't take our sister from us!" Tallie cried.

"You will all lose in the face of this battle."

"Over my dead body," Jason ground out.

"Stop!" Ellie's voice came into the clearing. People moved aside as Ellie came forward, Ally beside her, and nine figures behind them. "This is _over_ here and now. I suggest you take my sister to a healer immediately."

Ally signaled for two of the men to take her. They carefully picked her up. Tallie and Gira watched their sister go. "What is the meaning of this?" The figure called.

"Ask her." Ally stated simply as she came to stand by it.

"I'm giving myself for the benefit of my sisters. This is not their battle, nor is it anyone else's but my own. You will leave my family alone from this day forth and I expect nothing less of you than that."

"WHAT!" Jason, Gira, and Tallie screamed.

"Don't look at me like that. You all would be dead within the week and I will not watch my family die before my very eyes. Take care of each other and don't do anything stupid. I am doing what I will to protect all of you."

"Why are you doing this?" Tallie begged of her.

"My mother told me one day about a secret she had kept all her life. When she told me what it was it was already too late to undo the damage she had inflicted upon the rest of us. I took on her responsibility and watched out for you until the point where I could finally end this nonsense. Father tried to prevent it from happening but he only failed and made it worse. Now, I will be leaving and this will all be over."

"Ellie, you can't go! What about Rian, what about Laci, May, Anne, Talya, what about all of us?"

"This is why I am leaving. You may one day understand the significance of this but today is not that day. Your lives were placed in my hands and I plan to make sure you live them."

"It's time to go Ellie, we've wasted enough time here already." Ally snapped as she dragged Ellie back.

"Take care of each other, I love you all."

They were all too stunned to move as they mounted the horses and rode off. She never once looked back and before they knew it she was gone.

"ELLIE!" Tallie was the first to break out of her trance and ran a few feet. "You can't leave us!"

Gira ran to her sister's side, catching her before she fell. They broke down into a fit of tears. Jason was still too stunned to do anything. After a moment he moved to their sides. "Go to your sister, she needs you now." They slowly nodded their heads. "Someone go get the palace guards and have them dispose of the bodies." With that he turned and headed back to the castle, tears slipping down his cheeks.

The rest of the sisters had gathered in the library, save for the triplets and Ellie. They were unaware of what had occurred today and they were curious to know what had happened.

Laci took a deep breath as she looked at each one of them in turn. "Today, in the marketplace, Nora was attacked. She fought off her attacker as best as she could, Gira and Tallie helped all they could but it wasn't enough. She's wounded badly and the healers aren't sure she will ever recover from this."

They were all too stunned to speak so Laci pressed on. "May and I were also attacked but Ellie stepped in before anything could happen. Unfortunately Ellie is gone. She left with Ally, who was attacking us at the time. She's not coming back either, she's gone. She said something about her mother having a secret that she knew and that is why she was protecting us."

"Father was trying to help us but only seemed to make it worse. Now instead of all of us paying with our lives she's let them take her," May finished for her.

Sara was the first to react and she broke out into tears. Soon the rest of them were crying heavily.

Just then the door burst open to reveal Risa. Her eyes swept the room in a hurry. "Where is she? Where is she?" She called softly.

None of the sister's said anything, they all turned to look at her. "She's _gone_ and its all your FAULT!" Rian screamed. "What the hell did you do? What did you do!"

Risa took a step back from her daughter. "I have no idea what you ar-"

"LIAR! Ellie said she knew your secret and it's your fault she isn't here! You took our sister away from us! How dare you! It should be you in her place!" Rian said in such an icy voice that the sisters moved back from her. They had never seen her lose her temper before, Rian rarely got angry. She was usually more carefree than the others, considering she was barely over the age of seventeen.

Risa just gaped at her, unable to comprehend what was going on in front of her. "Nora is lying in a bed and she could _die_! Ellie almost died herself. You did this to us and you think you can come and demand an answer from us! We should be getting the answer from _you_." Rian was now standing face-to-face with her mother, her blue eyes blazing with pure fury. "Whatever you did, you just took away more than one life."

With that Rian fled the room, slamming the door in her wake. Risa blinked and looked at the remaining girls. Sara stepped forward now, her face red from crying. "So tell me Risa, what will you tell Hanna, Katrina, and Sally when they ask where their big sister is?" she turned and left the room in the same fashion as Rian.

Tammy stepped forward now. "I hope you feel better knowing that you just cost the kingdom, not only a new queen but the future king." She fled the room as well.

Anne and Talya stepped forward. They just looked at her and walked out. Olria came forward. "This isn't over, not by a long shot. Your place in this is over with." She too left the room. This now left Iliane, May, and Laci. May and Laci just turned and left the room without so much as a look.

Iliane stepped forward. "I suggest that you don't come back to this castle or within fifty feet of either of us. I can't be responsible for my sister's actions. Without Ellie, there is no reason to continue. She was there for each of us when we were attacked by those you made suffer. She risked her life for all of us and even Jason. You took her away her chance at having her own family with the man she loved. We _will_ get our sister back and you will _not_ interfere from this point on." Iliane turned and followed after her sisters.

Instead of heading outside with the rest of them she turned to look for Jason. He sat in his room, gazing into the fire. He didn't hear her enter or the door shut behind her. "She's going to be alright, nothing will happen to her," she whispered quietly.

Jason turned to look at her. "Nothing better happen to her. We meant to tell all of you when we got back but she's with child."

"What!"

"Don't tell the others. We found out the day after we got there. She's only a few weeks along but with child none the less."

"Why didn't she just say something?"

"In front of them? The risk of losing the child is far greater to her. They won't know until it becomes to obvious. You can not tell the others."

Iliane nodded her head. This made things a lot more urgent. With a sigh she headed out of the room. When she closed the door she ran.

**A/N: Alright so you now know the identity of _one_ of the two attackers! Well now you get the introduction into the secret that has been causing them so much trouble! I don't know whyI am writing this so much but I am glad I am getting it done so well. By the end of next week (the 27th) I'll be leaving for a month and I may not be able to update after that but since it is the summer I may get this done before I leave. Besides I don't know yet if I am going to do another story after this but thanks again to all my reviewers and I may update again tonight if I finish the next chapter! **

**Seritha**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Pain and Planning

Each of the sisters had scattered into separate places within the castle. Gira and Tallie still sat beside their unconscious sister, Erick sitting in the room as well. Each of them had come in to see their pale sister. The worst was having to know that she could not live through the experience.

Rian lay curled up in her husband's lap, having fallen asleep after crying. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair, his mind a million miles away. The pain and anger that was in her eyes wasn't something he was used to seeing. She was affected the worst at the loss of her full blood sister. They were all close but not like they were.

Ellie naturally took over teaching Rian, like Laci had taken over teaching May. The loss of her sister hit much deeper than anyone could possibly have known. With a sigh he shifted her off his lap and into their bed. After pulling the sheets up around her shoulders he left the room.

He was surprised to run into Iliane. "Oh good! Daniel I need your help."

"Alright," he said cautiously as he followed her to a small room. It was plain, just two seats in the middle of the room. He was even more surprised to find Arthur, Erick, Peter, Richard and Jason in the room. Iliane closed the door behind her.

"Now I know all of you have heard the…horrible news to put it lightly. Nora can't moved let alone help with this, it would be impossible to get Gira and Tallie to leave her side. Unlike my sisters, who are more in a state of shock, I want to go get our sister back."

"It won't work unless they get repayment for what has just happened." Jason sneered. "Without that it is completely hopeless to think that we can have her back."

"Now that isn't a very positive outlook, considering she is your _wife_."

"I want her back just as much as you all do but I can't change it if she chose to do this! I'd do anything to get her back!"

"We all will Jason. The point is that we can do something about it _now_. We are all suffering and it makes it harder to know that with each passing second she is slipping further and further from our grasp. If you love her than you will help me."

"What are you planning on doing?" Richard asked slowly. He didn't like the way this was heading and he knew that all of them would put themselves on the line to save one of the others.

Iliane looked at him. "Unlike my naïve sisters I learned a bit more about the family than they all thought. I know the secret and I know a few more things."

"You mean you know?" Jason perked up a bit.

"I'm not telling any of you, that's for Ellie to do. What we need to do is to get Ellie free. The rest will fall into place when they find out she's gone."

"You know where she is at?"

"Of course I do."

"Alright then let's get to work!" Jason said eagerly.

Ellie sat in her cell, staring out the small cell window. Her hand lay on her stomach. No one would take it for her being pregnant just from hunger. She was tired and ached from the brutal ride here. Chains were strapped to her ankles and wrists.

Her eyes were clouded over as she was deep in thought. She prayed her sisters would stay away, there was no reason for them to become further entangled in this horrible mess.

The worst was when she thought about Jason. She remembered the look on his face when she told him that she was pregnant. The feelings that swept through her body when he kissed her. It killed her to see the look on his face when he realized she was leaving. The pain in his eyes, that continued to echo inside of her. She would give anything to be sitting with him.

Slowly the tears slipped down her face. The look on Laci's face hit her hard. Laci knew that her obligation as the oldest sister was to take her place but she never went against Ellie. Her heart went out to her sisters, who she knew were in a lot of pain and anguish.

Rian came unwilling into her mind, causing the tears to slip faster down her face. Her sister would never forgive her for leaving her like she did. All the plans Rian had made with the two of them in it. The thoughts of the two of them sitting, watching their children playing broke her heart. She would never have the pleasure of watching her many nieces and nephews growing up, let alone her only child thus far.

Eventually Ellie couldn't handle it and broke into sobs. Her body shook as she released all of her fears and insecurities for the first time in six years. Images of Nora's bleeding body ran through her mind. May, after she was so bruitaly treated. Laci after she had found Arthur in such a compromising situation. Iliane when she thought she had lost Randall. Rian when she found out about her impending marriage. The images continued to fill her vision and her sobs only increased.

She had fought for them, for the lives they could have, without fear or doubt. Jason's face made its way into her head. The first time she had seen him step out of the carriage. The morning she had woken up wrapped in his arms. Her body trembled violently now.

In her hysterical state she didn't see her cousin and uncle slip into the room. When she finally saw them her composure changed instantaneously. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched together.

"Well is this how you treat your favorite uncle?"

"You killed my favorite uncle, you bastard."

"Now, now Ellie, you shouldn't say such things to me. I could easily kill you."

"But that defeats the purpose of actually having me here, my dear narrow-minded uncle."

He glared at her and his hand connected with her face. The sound resonated through the room but Ellie didn't so much as flinch. "Don't you dare talk to me as if you are better than me."

"I'm a princess of course I am better than you." Again his hand hit her across the face and again she didn't flinch. She ground her teeth and continued to glare at him.

"So tell me, where is your knight in shinning armor? Shouldn't he be trying to save you?"

"No, he isn't going to, not yet anyways."

"Oh, so you think he can get passed me?"

"No, I don't think he can, I know he can. Then, when I am free, you will regret the day you ever harmed a member of my family."

"You are just as worthless as that bitch of a mother of yours."

Before he knew what happened he hit the wall, clutching he side. He had stood close enough that Ellie could hit him without the chains stopping her. Her foot had slammed hard into his ribs, the heel breaking two bones.

"Send her for thirty lashes."

Ellie glared worse at her vicious uncle but remained silent. Three large men came in to take her away. She turned to face Ally who smirked at her. Annoyed at this she managed to hit Ally into the nearest wall before being pulled off of her. "You'll pay for this too Ally, you won't get away with this."

"I already have!" she shouted back.

Ellie was led into a large room. She was moved to the center where her arms were tied up. Taking deep breaths she prepared herself for the searing pain that was about to happen.

"I hope you realize that you took your life for nothing. Your family will fall, just like you have." Her uncle said as he came to stand in front of her. She met his gaze. "Your mother condemned all of you to an early death. You being the first to lose her life."

"I suggest you watch what you say Uncle, for I am not one to seek revenge lightly."

"It's been a week now and no one has come for you, do you think _you_ could get free?"

She gave him a wide, secretive smile. "Give her her lashes!"

One…

Before she knew it the whip cut into her.

Two…

Pain shot through her back.

Three…

It cut through her skin.

Four…

The whip bit into her shoulder.

Thirty…

A single tear slipped down her face. "I hope that teaches you a lesson."

Ellie was too weak to say anything in reply. Her body ached like nothing she had ever felt before. The pain made her nauseous and weak. She spit on the ground, noticing the blood that was mixed in it. This time only one guard accompanied her.

Despite the fact that she felt as if she was about to die she managed to stumble into the guard, pocketing his keys in the process. He roughly grabbed her arm before throwing her into her cell. Another man clamped the chains on once more.

She lay on her stomach, the pain making it hard to keep conscious. In a last desperate attempt she hid the keys, before her world went black.

Rian stormed into Iliane's room. Her husband had disappeared late in the night and she knew her sister was behind it all. Iliane was looking out the window and didn't even bother to turn around when her sister burst into the room. "Where did you send him? " She demanded.

"I didn't send him anywhere."

"You liar! Where is my husband?"

"I don't know." Iliane stated calmly, knowing that her sister would be infuriated further by her calm tone.

"Iliane so help me I will beat it out of you. Where is he?" She cried at her sister.

"I told you I don't know where he is _at_."

"Where is he going?"

"To rescue Ellie."

"Why him?"

"It would kill Ellie if she saw us coming to her rescue. She wanted us to stay protected and so that's what we are doing."

"If they free her then it will be worse."

"On the contrary. Ellie told Jason before they made it back about what she was going to do. So I used that bit to help the plan along. She said to wait a week before coming to a certain point where she would be at before the middle of the second week."

"You are kidding me!"

"No I am not Rian. Why do you think Jason just let her walk away? Do you honestly believe that Jason would let the woman he loves more than life itself walk to her death? No he wouldn't and you know that."

Rian regarded her sister for a moment. "When did you turn into Ellie?"

"I could never be anything like Ellie. She's got more strength then I have ever seen in one human being. Her love for us speaks bounds for itself. We all say that no matter what we would put ourselves on the line for each other but she has us all beat. In every desperate moment in our lives who was the one standing beside us when we needed it?"

"Ellie," she whispered quietly.

"When I thought I had lost Randall for the rest of time, she came to me. She helped me through the pain and the sleepless nights. When May was in trouble, to which I still don't know why, she spent whatever time she could beside her, guiding her. Laci, when the problem with Arthur came. She not only consoled Laci but she did the same for Arthur. As much as we take care of each other, she was always there, through the worst and best of times. Now, she's given herself willingly, something that none of us could possibly understand."

"Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't it be someone else?"

"Would it have been the same? Would you have been hurt so deeply?"

Rian took a step back, she hadn't thought her sister would say that.

"Yes Rian, I know. You were always closest to her and always will be. Sara has always been beside Ellie, more than the rest of us have but she takes comfort in you."

"I did as much as I could when Ellie fell pray to her own attack but it wasn't enough to help her." Iliane and Rian turned to look at Sara, shock clear on their faces. "We all weren't the only ones who have had it rough. Ellie took pain of her own and she held her head high despite the odds. No one was allowed to know, no one besides me knows."

"I-I-I never realized it, I never understood why she came to me during that time. I enjoyed it, I was still so young. It was the biggest comfort in the world to be with her, like the rest of you were."

"That you didn't realize that you were helping her. She made up her mind that day. I knew one day something like this would happen but I refused to believe it would. She'll come back, she won't leave any of us."

"Sara, why didn't she say something?" Rian asked slowly.

"Pain Rian, the pain."

**A/N: Well this is my second chapter for the day! I actually didnt know if I would finish it before I fell asleep so I took a shower to wake myself up for this. You know large families tend to have a lot of secrets. The next chapter will be a bit longer, seeing as I am dragging in a few new characters. Sorry for so many, I have to keep a list so I don't get confused. But thanks again everyone for the great reviews, they keep me writing this story. I have no idea how many chapters there will be but the end is in sight. Thank you so very much all. **

**Seritha**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Repercussions

Ellie's head hurt like no other. It felt like she had been slammed continuously into a brick wall. Blinking back the tears that were threatening to escape she very slowly pushed herself up. The pain wasn't as bad as she had thought but it still hurt. With deep, shaky breaths she managed to sit up. Her vision spun momentarily before clearing.

Moonlight streamed in through the window and lit part of the room. She had been stuck here for the last four days, in constant pain. Her cousin had a habit of coming in and hitting her on the back when she said a few cross words. Today was the day she had to leave. She didn't want Jason coming to get her, so she was going to do this.

Grabbing the keys she had stolen she slowly made her way to the door. Pressing and ear to the crack below the door she listened for movement. Hearing none she got to her feet and slowly unlocked the door. It was amazing how stupid they were, to leave a keyhole on the _inside_ of the door.

She was glad that the door didn't squeak when it opened. Slipping out into the dark hall she gently closed the door behind her. She wore no shoes and made no sound as she traveled along the stone path. As she grew closer to the exit she could hear laughter from inside a room.

The guards were already drunk and singing loudly. Shaking her head she continued on down the halls. Before she got to the door leading into the castle she stopped under a torch. Pressing her hand to a small stone, she opened a doorway. Smirking she slipped into the path, shutting the door.

Once the door was shut she ran down the path. It was pitch black inside but she knew exactly how far each turn was in the path. As a child she had frequently visited her uncle and cousins. In her time there she had come across every single hidden path. Finally she reached the end of her path, panting from both the pain in her back and the run, she pushed open the door.

Cool wind whipped across her face, cooling her face. With a deep breath she stepped out into the night air. Tilting her head, she regarded the figure before her. "Why am I not surprised." She said with a snort.

"Well who else did you expect?" Jason said with a smirk.

"Well someone better looking than you."

"Ouch that hurt! You are a day late by the way."

"So sue me later, I was held up."

"Why?" He asked, his voice suddenly serious.

"I'll explain later, can we go now?" Jason nodded his head and the two hurried out of range of the castle.

They finally made it into town, Ellie gasping harden than what she should. Jason grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. She dropped her gaze, trying to hide the tears that had slipped down her cheeks. He tilted her head up. "What did they do?"

"It's nothing."

"Liar, Ellie tell me."

"I got lashes," she said in a barely audible voice.

Jason turned her around and carefully lifted the back of her shirt. He gasped at the sight before him. Deep, red cuts covered every inch of her back. Some were deeper than others and some were trying to scab over. "Ellie…

She pulled away from him and quickly pulled her shirt down. "We need to get home and now. When they find out I am gone they will go after everyone. We have to get moving _now._"

"Fine." He beckoned the others over, who had been waiting not far off. Erick presented them with their horses.

"Hello sweetie," Ellie whispered to her black mare. "I hope you boys can keep up, she's not slow."

"We know," they chimed together. She swung up into her horse's saddle. With one final look at the castle she saw a figure standing in one of the windows. They looked at each other and Ellie turned.

She kicked her horse into motion and they thundered away. Ellie was well aware of what was about to happen.

Sara was the first to her them approaching. She had been gazing out the window the whole time. Her mind was locked far away from the rest of the world around her. With a scream of delight she ran outside.

As she got closer she knew what had happened to Ellie. "NO!" She cried as she ran to catch her before she fell off her horse. Ellie slouched against her, unable to hold herself up any further. "Oh goodness not again."

"Yes, I know, it was very stupid of me."

"Don't you ever know when to shut your mouth?"

"You'd think I would by now but no."

Sara began to bring her sister inside the castle. To their surprise they were greeted by Risa. "What are you doing here?" She said in a cold voice.

"I was here to see my daughter."

"You shouldn't be here."

"I can if I want to be."

"Knock it off the both of you. You are acting like children and I will _not_ stand for it! I suggest you leave mother, for the time being, seeing as how my sisters hate you at the moment. I'm sorry mother but there is little else I can do. They are furious with you and until you explain the whole truth then you are out of luck. Though, of course, that may make them even madder but that is up to you. Now I have to go get clean, eat something, oh and get some sleep. Jason, sweetheart, would you please remind my sisters to not leave the castle at any point in time and also that they are to travel with _some_one else."

Jason nodded and the rest of the men disappeared with him. Sara carried Ellie to her room, where a hot bath was waiting. After stripping out of her torn and dirty clothes she slipped into the bath. She hissed when the water got across her cuts.

"It's alright, you're so lucky this isn't infected."

"I know, I made sure to keep my back clean as I could." Sara dipped a cloth in the water and slowly cleaned her back. "Why do you do this Ellie? Why do you?"

"I told you Sara, I'm doing it for all of you. I won't see all of you be hurt like I am being."

"Ellie, you can't always protect us, you know that."

"I've always known that. The problem is, I can't protect you at all."

"Don't say that! Don't you ever say that again!"

"Why not? It's the truth. Nora is injured badly, how was I protecting you? What have I really done?"

"You've done a lot of things Ellie! You know that, stop saying you haven't."

With a sigh she let the conversation drop. The two remained silent as Sara continued to clean the cuts on her back. When that was done they preceded to wash her hair. It was a slow task but this wasn't the first time this had happened. After her hair was cleaned she slowly stood up. Sara wrapped her with a towel and went to grab the bandages.

Rian paced back and forth in her room. Her mind was moving quicker than usual. Ellie had just returned home and she wasn't allowed to see her. Sara had gone off to take care of her and no one told her what had happened. She had come across her mother, who was pale. Her mind was wrapped around her sisters, who were both horribly injured.

The door suddenly opened to reveal a very tired looking Sara. Her hair was unbound and fell around her face. Her eyes were distant and clouded over. "Ellie wants to speak with you." Rian could hear how horse her voice was, like she had been crying.

She slowly nodded her head and headed out of the room. Her first thought was to run to her sister but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was too scared to know the truth but she was also curious as well. With a deep breath she pushed open the door and entered the room. Ellie stood gazing out her window. She turned when she heard her enter the room.

Slowly a smile spread across her face. "I see you were the one who brought mother down from her perch. I'm proud of you."

Rian was startled to hear this so she just remained quiet.

"I'm fine Rian, nothing I can't handle."

"I don't believe you. You can't do all of this and be able to handle it. You just can't."

"Someone has to do it, so why not me?"

"What happened to you Ellie? I want the truth, not some stupid false answer. I want to know what really happened."

Ellie held her gaze for a few minutes. She knew this day would come but she had hoped it was far in the future. With a sigh she took a seat, Rian sitting beside her.

"I was eight the first time it happened. It was three days after the incident with May had occurred. I don't know why I let myself drift so far from the others but I did. They took me then, surrounded me and knocked me out. Our oh so loving attackers were the ones who did it to me. I couldn't do anything then but let it happen. The least to say is that I was badly abused and left with a deep scar across my back. It was Sara that found me when I managed to escape. May was still too hurt and the rest of you all had things to do. We kept it quiet, I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone.

"This time they did it again, only a bit worse. I suppose that part was fault on me. I never did learn to shut my mouth. Because of that, or maybe it was just the fact that I was making up for lost time, but I got thirty lashes. I would show you but Sara has them tightly bandaged."

Rian sat, shocked by this discovery. She would never have thought that something like that could happen to _her_. This was Ellie for crying out loud! The girl who braved through everything! The woman who stood beside all of them when they couldn't handle the rest of the world. It just wasn't possible!

She didn't realize the tears that had slipped down her face or heard Jason enter the room. "Come on Ellie, its time for you to get some rest. You've been up too long as is. The healers will be by to see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Rian." Ellie said as she kissed her sister's head. Rian got to her feet and quietly left the room. She continued on until she made it to her room. Daniel was already fast asleep. Rian sat down for a minute. She knew she couldn't sleep, there would be no way she could get to sleep. With a final sigh she sprinted out of the room and headed to find her mother.

Risa sat up in her room, gazing into the crackling flames. She jumped when her door slammed open. Rian stood in the door, her face passive. "Tell me, tell me what has caused Ellie so much pain."

Risa looked at her daughter. "Alright I'll tell you."

**A/N: Alright I couldn't help it I just HAD to leave this cliffhanger! I mean whats the fun of telling it all in one chapter? It's not besides I still have to introduce the rest of the cast! Thank you all for your great reviews and I am pleased to know you are all enjoying my story so well. Now off to do the next chapter! **

**Seritha**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: What MORE men! faints

Ellie woke to the sound of three loud crashes, two screams, and a groan. Shaking her head she opened her eyes. _They can never just let me sleep! Honestly!_ Pushing the blankets down to her ankle she rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door. Just before she opened it she realized she was still in her nightgown. With a groan she grabbed her breeches and took one of Jason's shirts.

Outside in the hall she found all of her sisters, excluding the triplets, and a group of men. She saw three broken vases and Jason holding his head in his hands.

"BE QUIET!" Ellie snapped. She was definitely not in the mood to have to deal with this _today_! All of them snapped to attention.

"Ellie! You shouldn't be out of bed!" Laci complained. She glared at her older sister who instantly shut her mouth. She made her way to her fallen husband.

Removing his hands she found his eye starting to swell. "What did you do to him?"

They all started talking all at once. "No! One at a time!"

Sara stepped forward. "Tammy, Laci, May, and I were on our way to check on you. We ran into all of them and things kind of went wrong from there. Jason tried to break it up but got hit."

Jason looked down away from his wife. His head was killing him and he couldn't see out of his left eye. She gently ran her finger over the bruise on his eye and he winced. Brushing back the hair on his forehead she kissed his forehead before standing. "You _boys_ had better get out of my sight. I suggest you all stay away from each other, in fact none of you are allowed out of your rooms until further notice, that includes you girls as well. You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Each of them hung their heads. "It's been four days since I got back and you all need to shut up. I'll make the bloody announcement tonight at dinner and I suggest _all_ of you remain where you are supposed to for the rest of the evening. Now go!"

They all hurried off down the halls in complete silence. Jason stood beside her. "I tried not to let them wake you up but they weren't listening."

Ellie turned to face him. "I know you were and I am sorry you got stuck in the middle of this." He smiled and kissed her slowly. She melted against and smiled when he pulled back. "I love you," she whispered quietly to him.

His smile increased when she said that. "I love you too," he whispered quietly in her ear.

"Let's get some sleep." Jason laughed.

Dinner slowly rolled around. Ellie didn't really feel like getting out of bed. She was still sore and quiet grumpy when he woke her up. "Come on Ellie, we need to get to dinner."

"I don't wanna get up," she mumbled into his chest. "Let's just sleep, yes, sleep sounds good."

"We can sleep later, besides you still have to reprimand the children."

She groaned at hearing this. "Why don't you play the parent and reprimand the children? I've been doing it for years and I'd like a bit of a break."

"You won't get one my love. Besides we are starting our own family soon."

"Yes, yes I know, I know. Well, why don't you take care of them for me? I can just sleep so more. I mean the doctor did say I needed to get rest."

"You've been sleeping for four days straight."

"Point being?" She snuggled closer to him, pressing her forehead into his neck. His arm tightened around her waist, holding her even closer.

"So are you going to leave them in their rooms for the rest of the night and tomorrow?"

"Why not? As long as I don't have to put up with them I don't really care. Actually, we need to go see Nora."

Jason nodded his head at this. "Come on then my darling wife." Laughing she rolled out of bed and preceded to get dressed.

The two slowly made their way to where Nora usually slept. Ellie opened the door and gazed inside. Gira and Tallie were asleep on the cots that had been brought in. The two had refused to so much as leave the room for more than an hour. It had been two weeks now and she hadn't so much as opened her eyes.

Her face was pale and she was cold to the touch. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she gazed at her younger sister. _To think I could have prevented this. What was I thinking when I left them there? _Jason held her around the shoulders. When she looked up she could see the tears in his own eyes.

Erick was asleep in the seat beside her bed, his hand holding hers. Slowly Ellie made her way to the other side of Nora. She gently pushed back a lock of hair on her sister's forehead. To her surprise Nora's eyes slowly opened. Her normally dark blue eyes were almost a white color.

She blinked rapidly trying to get the room in focus. Turning her head she looked directly into her older sister's eyes. Tears slipped down her face and her lip trembled slightly. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Ellie helped her to drink some water.

Once that was through Nora turned to look at a sleeping Erick. She could see that he had had little sleep and his hair was very messy. "How long?" She managed to get out in a low, hoarse voice.

"Two weeks."

"Two?" Her head ached and it made it hard to focus on everything.

"You lost a significant amount of blood and the healers were afraid you wouldn't make it more than a month, if even that."

With a weak smile she slipped back into a dreamless sleep. Ellie watched her for a moment longer before heading out of the room, Jason following quietly behind. She didn't turn to head towards the dinning area but was heading towards her mother's room. Without even knocking she entered the room. He hesitated before going inside, unsure of if he should continue on. When she beckoned him in he headed inside and closed the door.

"Mother?"

Risa turned to look up at Ellie. "Ellie!" In an instant she was on her feet hugging her oldest child. "I'm so glad you are alright. I didn't know if you were safe or not."

"I'm getting better. It's still hard to be up and moving but I suppose I need it."

"Don't stay up and moving around for too long. How is Nora? No one would tell me."

"She's just woken up but she still is too weak. She lasted only a few moments before she fell asleep again."

"How are your sisters?"

"In their rooms."

"Why?"

"They woke Ellie up. They were arguing not to far from her room and woke her up," Jason said quickly.

"I suppose that is why you have a black eye. That must be why she sent them to their rooms."

Ellie grinned at her mother. "Of course! No one hurts my husband."

"She makes me seem weak!" Jason commented before hugging her.

"Well he's not weak just a little slow." The three laughed quietly. "I have to go inform them of their new arrangements. I really don't want to do this."

"I'm sorry Ellie, this is all my fault."

"Don't say that mother! Things happened for a reason but that doesn't mean all of it was your fault. Please don't say that! My sisters may think that but I have never."

Her mother nodded her head slowly. "We should go to dinner," Jason said as he indicated towards the door. The three of them slowly made their way to the dinning hall. To Ellie's enjoyment it was completely silent. For once, Gira and Tallie joined them for dinner. The king and Queen sat at the head of the table, trying to decipher what had caused this activity. The men sat on one side of the table, the women on the other.

"Ellie! It's so good to see you awake!" King David said with a smile.

"Thank you. It's been a while since I could stay awake for too long." Ellie remarked as she sat down beside Jason at the other end of the table. Her mother took a seat beside Rian.

Once they sat down the food was served. Dinner was unusually quiet but Ellie didn't mind in the least. Jason was trying his best not to smirk. He was too far away for his parents to see his black eye and he really wasn't in the mood to answer them. "This is going to be fun," she whispered in his ear.

Slowly she got to her feet, capturing everyone's attention. "Now, as father put me in charge of handling this whole affair, I have news to announce. Considering the recent events I felt it would be necessary to quickly get this over with. There is much to be done within the week and I am planning to finish that." She took a deep breath and looked at each one of her sisters, her gaze lingering on Sara, who nodded her head.

"Sixteen years ago there was two incidents that happened within the span of three days time. The first happened to May, who, if willing, will tell you her encounter. Mine happened three days later. I was walking around when I was captured by…well our attackers to put it lightly. I was held for three days and abused severely due to the information that I held. Satisfied that I had told them all I could I was finally released and thrown back into the woods. I was fortunate enough to come across Sara, who brought me back home. Two days later Father began to work on a plan to protect all thirteen of us. Unfortunately the plans failed horribly and leaves us where we are today.

"Each one of us was signed into an arranged marriage. As you can see that the rest of the men, some known, others unknown, are here for that very reason. The agreements were altered and reentered for the last sixteen years. With war in the country it made it difficult. Now, our attackers have regained strength and have turned their attention against us once more. You can probably see that I was the first to go, that was just to spur the rest of the agreements into motion. Rian came next, though at fault of Daniel's parents. Laci and Arthur, who knew from the start about theirs, was messed up by our cousin Ally.

"Iliane, Randall, that was held back by his family, who I am afraid to say, were the ones who had captured me to begin with. No one else knew this information until now, I refused to let it slip for fear of what Randall or Iliane would have to endure. However, it didn't stop them from harming their own son in an attempt to separate them for good. May, Richard, you are just the same in this. Her problems are something that I can not help her with and as her future husband you should have acted a lot better. Sara, Peter, well there isn't much to say about the two of you. Olria, Ralph, you two really are complete strangers, save a few encounters in the past but you two will have to work on that part.

"Anne, Mark, I know you two have known each other, rivals to be exact. Talya, Paul, pretty much the same goes for you two, a healthy rivalry. Tammy, Keith, I don't really know what to put in here considering you two are already married."

"WHAT!" All of her sister's screamed at once. The two only shrugged and looked at Ellie, who was smirking.

"Erick, I know you already know of your arrangement and I only pray that Nora can withstand this. Tallie, John, you two are probably the worst rivals I've ever seen. Unfortunately, you two are really stuck together like the rest of us and you should really work on communication rather than yelling at each other. Gira, Sam, well this is another introduction as well.

"I hate to say this, all things considered I wished to see all of you married in a large wedding like mine or even a small one like Rian's but the current situation keeps that from happening. Only small ceremonies, as in all of us all at once, save for Nora and Erick. Now, I suggest you all work this out _calmly_ while I go back to bed. If anyone gets out of line you really won't like me after that."

Her sister's smirked slightly and covered laughs. "That includes all of you!" Ellie said with a smile.

"We also have one more piece of information that we would like to share, that will not, under any circumstances leave this castle, let alone this room." Jason said as he stood up next to Ellie.

"Jason?" She questioned quietly.

"We might as well."

"They will kill me," she whispered.

"No they won't, just be furious with you."

She glared at him but said nothing.

"About a week ago we found out that Ellie is in fact with child."

"WHAT!" Was the explosion they got from the entire room.

"You let her leave knowing she was pregnant?" Laci demanded.

"You put yourself through all of that and with a child!" Tallie snapped.

"How could you be so stupid?" Rian put in, annoyed.

"Great job Jason."

He smiled down at her, kissing her quickly. It was apparent the two weren't listening but her sisters continued to babble on.

"Wait a second," the King said in a loud voice that silenced the room. Everyone turned to look at the King David. "You mean to tell me that Randall's own family is partially behind the whole attack on you all?"

"Yes sir," she said quietly.

"My daughters are there," the queen whispered quietly. Jason and Ellie froze. They each exchanged looks before running from the room. Rian, Iliane, Sara, and May all took off right after them. Laci held back all of the others.

"They can handle that part I promise you that. Those five have never been beaten." She stated in a calm voice.

"Why didn't she tell us sooner? They could hurt my children but why?" The Queen asked her husband.

"Because of me, because of us David." Risa stated simply. David stood up straighter.

"So they figured me out have they?"

"They have and that means your children aren't any safer than mine have been."

The two looked at each other, the queen looking back and forth between them confused. The whole room had grown quiet at this revelation and now no one knew what to think of this.

Outside the six of them thundered off into the night. Ellie knew this was stupid of her to do but she wasn't going to let them touch her new family. She spurred her horse into a faster pace, her sister's doing the same to their horses, leaving Jason behind. He grumbled under his breath but continued on despite this.

**A/N: See told you there are a lot of people! Look more secrets! Oh got to love them don't you? Well thanks for reviewing and I have five days to get this done for all of you before I disappear for a while. So please enjoy and keep reviewing! If your lucky, or I get enough reviews, I'll update again tonight, won't that be wonderful? Well off to continue this cliffhanger! **

**Seritha**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Life, Love, and Hope

Kai stood between her attackers and her younger sisters. Molly and Olivia huddled together, scared at the scene before them. "How very valiant of you. Protecting your little sisters, Ellie seems to have rubbed off on you." The man sneered at her.

"She's right to have protected her family and I won't let you harm my sisters so long as I have air left in my body."

"Spoken like a true hero but your spirit can and _will _be broken." That was the last Olivia and Molly saw of their older sister.

Molly had tried her hardest to soothe her younger sister but to no avail. Without Kai there seemed to be no hope whatsoever.

_She's gone! What will we do now? I can't take care of Olivia; I can barely take care of myself!_

_**You don't really believe that she is gone do you?**_

_What else am I supposed to believe? I haven't seen her and when I ask the guards they just laugh and walk off._

_**There is always hope!**_

_No there isn't! Everyone thinks we are safe and protected here! How could we be so stupid and not see it? We will never see our parents again._

_**That's not true! What about your brothers?**_

_What Matt? He's off with his fiancée traveling the country and Jason is on his honeymoon with Ellie._

_**They will come for you. Kai must be alive otherwise they would have come after you and Olivia.**_

_I hope you are right about that._

_**Just keep your head up and remember to believe in the rest.**_

Molly sighed and hugged her younger sister closer to her. If nothing else she would wait, she would be ready. Kai had willingly given herself up for the sake of protecting them. It had already been a week; could they stand this much longer?

Suddenly the door swung open. "Hello sister!" Jason said smiling.

"Jason!" Molly and Olivia chimed together. They ran to him, hugging him tightly. Iliane and Tallie both had bows strung and were on either side of him.

"Come on, we have to get a move on you know."

"Where is Kai? They took her from us and we haven't seen her." Molly asked quickly.

Jason began to usher them along, carrying Olivia as they ran. "Rian and Ellie went to get her but we can't worry about them now. We need to get out of here."

They made their way through the castle, dodging guards along the way. Once outside, the two girls were put on horses and the five of them sped home.

Ellie and Rian slowly made their way in the castle. They stopped suddenly when they turned a corner. Randall's younger brother, Adam, entered a room.

"Kai's in that room," Rian hissed.

"Well then we will have to get rid of Adam, I think." Ellie said with a frown. Carefully the two made it to the door. They pushed it open and found an interesting sight before them.

Kai sat in the corner of the room, her eyes emotionless. She sported bruises all along her arms, neck, face, and legs. Her dress was dirty and ripped, her hair was tangled and filthy.

Adam knelt beside her holding a plate of food out to her. He turned to face them when they came in. "Oh thank you, you finally made it!" He said happily.

"What?" Rian asked confused.

"I can't explain what's happened but she _has_ to get out of here now. He's on his way back and I can't stand to see her fall victim again."

"Adam, you are coming along aren't you?" Kai's voice was low and barely audible.

"Of course but we have to go now."

He lifted Kai in his arms and they hurried out of the room. It was unfortunate that they ran into his father at the end of the hall. "Adam! What in the world do you think you are doing?"

"Protecting her, what does it look like I am doing?"

"You dare speak to your father in that tone of voice! You are no better than that bastard of a brother of yours."

"Don't you dare talk about Randall like that! He is a hundred times better a man than you will _ever_ be! He would never physically assault a woman! He would never attack and beat innocent people."

Ellie's grip on her blade only increased. "So you are after Iliane's side, how stupid of you. You forget that Tammy is still older."

"Don't you dare mouth off to me you little bitch."

"Shut up!" Rian snapped her own blades drawn and ready. He was only flanked by two guards.

"You will die tonight, the two of you, your sister, and you." He said indicating towards his son.

"No, it's you who will die." Ellie said in a calm voice.

He leapt at her, swinging his blade down hard. Her blade caught his and she kicked him in the stomach. Her back ached from the pressure the blow had applied. She would have to end this quickly if she was going to make it out of this alive. To her great surprise Adam moved in to take over the fight.

Backing down Ellie moved to help Rian, who was battling the two men. They were down within moments. "Take her and leave!" Adam yelled as he ducked the next blow.

"No!" Kai screamed. "Don't you dare leave me!"

"Ellie! Take her please!"

Torn between wanting to obey and helping Kai she finally resolved to drag her off. Rian held her other arm, trying to hold her back. "NO! Please! Ellie let me go back to him, I'm begging you."

"I'm sorry Kai," Ellie whispered as she knocked her out. Rian sighed and the two lifted her up. "I wish I hadn't done that."

"It's better this way Ellie. We can only pray Adam can protect himself." They made it out into the cold night. Swinging up into her saddle, Rian helped put Kai on Ellie's saddle. When Rian was safely on her horse they turned and headed off towards home.

Adam ducked as the blade missed his head by inches. "Come on son. Hit me!" His father taunted. He said nothing as he blocked the next attack. "Why protect her? She's broken now; I made sure of that myself!"

"That's because you're sick and demented. I'm surprised mother hasn't heard of your raping of her servants. She wasn't ever good enough for you was she?"

"Your mother was nothing. A worthless little woman who was only good for my pleasure."

"Bastard!" He yelled as he cut his father's shoulder.

"Her spirit is long gone Adam, she will never be the woman you want her to be. After all you can never have her like I did, she will always remember me!" This only added to Adam's anger.

He swung his blade so quickly that it was no more than a blur to his eyes. He was going to get his father back for doing what he did, for what he did to anyone. His blade suddenly lodged itself in his father's chest.

The look on his face was complete and utter shock as he stumbled back from his son. He dropped to his knees, staring at the hilt protruding from his chest. Adam withdrew his blade and watched as his father fell forward, dead. With a strangled cry he dropped to his knees.

Tears slid down his face and his whole body shook. He had just killed his father, the man who had given him life. Yet his father had taken so many others lives. His love for Kai was what drove him to end a man's life that had taken away hers.

In his heart he knew she would never be what he had wanted. The sound of guards coming made Adam flee the scene. He ran straight for his waiting horse and swung into the saddle. With one final glance back he saw his mother standing in the window.

He watched as she drove the dagger into her chest and fall back into her room. More tears streamed down his face. Only one part was over and it wasn't the worst of it. Turning his horse he headed for the capital city.

Kai was surprised to wake up not only in her bed but held tightly by the warm figure beside her. Her head ached and her vision was blurry but that didn't stop her from trying to see who she lay beside. Slowly her vision began to come into focus and she stared down at a sleeping Adam.

His arm was wrapped protectively around her waist and his head was slightly angled towards her. She smiled slightly as she kissed his cheek. He stirred slightly only to roll onto his side and press her against him. Her leg wrapped around his and she rested her head against his chest.

Sleep didn't come to her easily but she didn't mind. She was content with just laying in his arms. When she did fall asleep she fell into a nightmare.

_Kai sat in the corner of the small room. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she ignored the blood that slid down the back of her neck. Her heart crashed into her chest making it the only sound that filled her ears. _

_Slowly the door opened to reveal the lord. He smirked at her and closed the door behind him. She tried to find any escape but knew there was none. He knelt in front of her, running a cold hand down her cheek. _

_"Not so tough are you?" She didn't answer him just continued to stare at him. "Women, weak, frail little creatures. The most you are good for is to satisfy a man's needs and possibly give him children. You, I doubt you could even do that. Why my son loves you is beyond me."_

_Kai kept her face passive though inside she was filled with a renewed sense of strength. He loved her and she would be damned if she allowed him to take her life away. Slowly a smirk crossed her face, making him move back slightly. "Women are more than that. Men are those that should be serving the women." _

_He glared at her and grabbed her arm roughly. "Let's see if you _can_ satisfy me." He threw her onto the bed but wasn't expecting what she did next. Her foot connected sharply with his lower region and he doubled over in pain. _

_"Stay away from me! You will regret the day you touched me!" With that she hit him square in the jaw and then kicked him hard in the stomach. Before she could continue on the guards rushed in. Two of them pinned her to the wall while another hit her hard in the stomach. _

"KAI!" Adam cried making her sit up with a start. She shook her head trying to clear it of the scene in her head.

"What?" She asked in a low voice.

"You were thrashing around, are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I am fine. Nothing that I can't handle." She told him quietly as she snuggled up close to him. He slowly pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. She let out a sigh of content and closed her eyes.

"I didn't think you would come," she whispered softly.

"I wasn't going to leave you," he remarked slowly. She nodded her head.

"Do you really love me?"

"What?" He said suddenly. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Your father, before he…he tried to…." She trailed off.

"I do love you," he said after a long moment. Kai turned to look up at him.

"I love you too." Adam smiled and kissed her. With a smile she kissed him back.

A soft knock on the door made them pull away a little. "Come in," he called.

Ellie came in the room, a smile on her pale face. She looked exhausted but she was ignoring it for the time being. "How are you two feeling?"

"Tired actually and hungry."

"Not surprising. Molly and Olivia are sleeping at the moment, your parents are with them. They were planning on coming to see you but I told them that you two needed a bit of rest for a while, so expect them in the morning."

"Thank you," Kai said after a moment. "Shouldn't _you_ be in bed?"

She laughed. "Of course I _should_ be but I am sure Jason is about to drag me back to my room complaining about how stupid it is for me to be up and moving when I am clearly injured and in pain."

"Yep that sounds like Jason." The two girls traded a knowing smile.

"Well I just came to check up on you two before I got sleep for the next three days. I'll talk to you then."

"Is she awake yet?"

"Only been for a couple of days, with only that being a few minutes." Ellie headed out of the room and made her way to her own. Jason was pacing back and forth inside the room.

"Where have you been?" He snapped when she came into the room.

Smiling she approached him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I went to check up on your sisters."

"I told you to stay in bed," he complained as he set his forehead against hers.

"I know you did but I still had to check."

He snorted. "Always the noble one." He kissed her nose making her laugh.

"I will be more than happy to give you the position for a while, it's beginning to give me a headache."

"Don't worry love, things will be well soon."

"They better be, I would like a normal marriage."

"So would I but right now we can't have that."

Ellie sighed and closed her eyes. "When will this end? I can't stand to watch as people continue to get hurt."

"Soon, very soon." She pulled away from him and made her way to go change into something to sleep in. Jason sighed and sat down on the end of his bed. "I hope this is over before the baby comes."

"That's not for another eight months at least, so stop worrying."

"Well who knows what could happen in those eight months. I don't like to broad on the subject but without you I don't think I could survive."

"You're right you shouldn't broad on the subject. No one is going to die Jason, well no one in this family that is."

"You better be right about that."

"I am," she said as she came to sit beside him. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she kissed his neck. "Everything is going to be fine and we will be fine."

"I hope so because I want a big family."

"How big?" She said with a raised eyebrow. He grinned down at her.

"Well how does ten sound?"

"Good luck finding a woman who will have ten kids. Besides I have fifteen sisters, do you have any idea how many nieces and nephews will be running around this castle? Not excluding the fact that you have three sisters and a brother. Oh wow, how will we work on that!"

Jason laughed and rolled her onto her back. She moved out from below him and moved back further up the bed. Smiling he moved to lay down beside her. "That's true but what's wrong with a big family?"

"Nothing is," she muttered trying to keep her mind off of the fact that he was kissing her neck. "I don't really know how many children I actually _want_ to have. I've always been in a big family and I wouldn't have it any either way. I wouldn't mind letting my children grow up in a large family and we are all very close too."

"We don't have to think about how many we want now. I mean we still have a while to go and who knows we could end up with three."

"I don't know, three is kind of low don't you think?"

"Maybe, so do you think it's a girl or a boy?"

"Hopefully a boy, girls tend to run high in my family, both sides."

He laughed and continued to kiss her neck. "Trust me I can tell."

"I'd sure hope so otherwise there is something _really_ wrong with you." With another laugh he kissed her. "Stop that!" she whined when he pulled back.

"Stop what?" He asked in an innocent voice.

With a groan she rolled onto her side, her back facing him. Laughing he pulled her to him and the two settled into a comfortable position. "Tomorrow is another day."

"Another day and more secrets to reveal." Ellie mumbled before she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Wow! two chapters updated in two hours. Thanks really cool! Well I didn't know if I really approved much of this chapter but I needed to add in the fact that there is a bit more hidden and now on the chapter 21! Oh I also bet you all can't guess what its called! Alright I won't be mean to my faithful readers and reviewers it is in factcalled 'My Mother's Secret' so there, the moment you have all been waiting for! If I am lucky I can have this done beforeI get to bed tonight! (its only 5 right now so I have till 10 haha) **

**Seritha**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: My Mother's Secret

The sisters all sat around Nora's bed. She was still sleeping but she was bound to wake up eventually. They had all gone their separate ways for the better part of the last three days and now sat with Nora. Their fallen sister. Rian sat curled up next to Ellie. They were all scattered around the room sitting in various chairs or stretched out on coaches.

Slowly the door opened to reveal Kai, Molly, Katrina, Olivia, Hanna, and Sally. Katrina took up the spot on the other side of Ellie, while Sally on the other side of Rian. Hanna sat on Laci's lap, huddled against the older girls chest. Kai sat with Olivia and Molly on either side of her. They were all silent, no one wanting to say anything.

It was an hour later before Risa herself entered the room. She gazed at all the solemn faces and cleared her throat. They all turned to face her. "I think, I think it's time I explained the truth to all of you."

They all sat up straighter, all except for Rian and Ellie. Nora opened her eyes and turned to look at her.

Taking a deep breath she gathered her courage to say what should have been said years ago.

"Over two hundred years ago there were seven kings or queens who ruled the country. They were pretty much the founders of the countries of today. About one hundred years ago one of the rulers family began to break away and disintegrate. In the end it really just tossed the world into a huge war, destroying the original seven countries. The family lines were said to have died years ago but that's not true."

She turned to look at Ellie who got to her feet. "What she is trying to say is that those seven family lines still live on today. The problem is that there are those who refuse to allow them to take back the power they once had. If those seven countries reunite again then those that destroyed it will lose their power. If you ever heard the original story it was actually one of the seven family's own child that destroyed it. He was power hungry and wanted the whole world to fall under him, so he enlisted the help of minor lords and such.

"It backfired, for those lords would never bow down to the man. The families were then murdered, unaware that at least one member survived to live on. Unknowingly they continued on through the generations until recently had been undiscovered. I suppose it was really not hard to decipher from the fact that all of us had blue eyes."

"Laci, May, your mother was actually of the oldest of the lines. She controlled the greatest portion of land. Then of course Sara, Olria, you two are the second oldest. Then Anne, Talya, Tammy, Iliane, the triplets of course, and then there is Ellie and Rian."

"You said there was seven, that only counts as six." Laci put in.

"Jason is the seventh," Ellie said quietly. "I mean its not like any of us planned on reuniting the lands back to proper, it wasn't meant to be that way. Because we still live it still means that there will always be a chance that they will come together. It was really chance that Father was involved with six of the seven of the line. Actually King David is the only known male that fell into the lines."

"So what does all of this have to do with us trying to be killed?" Iliane asked.

"Well, like I said as long as we live then one day the countries can be put back together. If that happens then those, what, thirty-five countries that brought about our downfall will lose the power they stole."

"Alright but how does arranged marriages work in this?" Tammy asked.

"That was an idea your father had. If he could place you in homes where you would be protected then the lines would continue to draw out. However, Randall's family was one of the ones who went against us. Thankfully Randall wasn't corrupted. My brother, your uncle, was actually part of the line that branched out. It was, I suppose, meant to reoccur again. Ally was taught that we were the reason they weren't royalty."

"He's referring to the fact that indeed my mother is a Queen in the country of Lione. He was second born, her twin, born a minute later. When he found out what our bloodline really was he sort of took over the roll of wanting world domination."

"This still doesn't make sense. If we aren't going to reunite the countries and that's not meant to be then why are they attacking us?" Laci asked.

"Because there was a prophecy stating that we would be doing it," Sara put in quietly. "Despite our best attempts to leave the world in the current shape it's in it won't be. The battle that is bound to happen between us and uncle's 'army' is what makes our secret known."

"So why did father marry the two lines?" Tallie asked.

"Because just before the war broke out the two countries were already about to be bound into one," Risa continued. "They were the two smallest countries but very powerful to say the least. Two of the children, the eldest, ironically, were the ones who fell in love and were going to unite them. At the time, however, we didn't know that Jason was one of the lines and happened to be the other line. So the two are now fully united like they should have been years ago."

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Talya started. "Because of the fact that we are part of the old bloodlines it means that we are going to bring the country back to its original six countries. That, without trying, we are going to do this. So our lives are at stake for the sake of one man's greed and corruption?"

"Pretty much," Ellie said with a shrug. "You all were supposed to live hidden in this whole stupid affair but they had better plans. Ally really was jealous of Laci. Her father pushed her to do what she did but she's long lost."

"Wait a minute. Did you just say your mother is actually Queen of Lione?" Anne said suddenly.

"Yes."

"Doesn't that mean you were a princess all along? So aren't you just uniting those two countries as well?"

"Yes," Risa said.

"Oh well isn't this just grand. First we find out that our lives are at stake for the simple fact that we are royalty. Then Ellie was a princess to begin with. Next your going to tell me that we have to actually unite the countries."

"Well no we don't _have_ to. When we become known then we will be stuck with a bit more problems. I really don't want to do what they are asking of us." Ellie replied quietly. "I just want to have a family."

"None of us do but what about that prophecy."

"It said that the six are bound by blood and by heart. It just says that those who are going to do it are related all around by not only their heritage but their closeness. Because we are all sisters _and_ very close they just assumed that we would be the ones to do it," Sara said in a slightly bored tone. "The problem is none of us are fit to be able to rule, well except maybe Ellie. I don't want to any more than she does."

"So we are leaving the world as is?" Nora asked.

"Why not? I mean do you all really want to take on the responsibility that it is asking us to take on?"

"Isn't it sort of like our job though?" Tallie asked.

"It can be if we want it to be. It's a choice we have to make here and now. Do we all want to be Queens or just leave us as is? I mean I already am going to be but that was what I wanted. Well not in the sense of taking over eight smaller countries but this one, the one that's my home. I doubt Jason and I would fair to well with that kind of responsibility. Besides if he wants a big family there is no way I am going through that mess."

"I'm not doing it either," Nora chimed, the oldest of the triplets. "Sorry but I am content with just being a blacksmith's wife. That's all that I want to be, besides I love being a blacksmith any how." Tallie and Gira laughed but agreed with their sister.

"I couldn't do it, I'm not cut out for it," Laci said with a smile. "I could barely handle when Arthur left, I doubt I could manage a country."

"Ain't that the truth," May said with a smile.

"I'm not a people person I couldn't rule even if I tried." Sara said smiling as well.

"Well I definitely couldn't, I love fighting too much," Anne put in.

"So do we still have to fight?" Rian asked.

"Yes we do. This battle is far from over and won't ever be over as long as we live or our children. Though, I think it's about time to get some revenge don't you all think?" Ellie said quickly.

"Tallie, Gira, I hope you get that person back for what they did to me."

"Of course we will Nora!" They both said at once.

"Like we would _ever_ allow someone to live after that," Gira said with a snort.

"Why do I have a feeling this doesn't seem as big as it's supposed to be?" Tammy questioned Rian.

Rian regarded her older sister for a long moment. She could only shrug in reply. Tammy had a feeling this wasn't really the reason why all of their lives were in danger. There was something deeper, something hidden. _So what really is Risa's secret? It has to be something bigger than this, I just know it. Why won't they just tell us the truth?_ Tammy watched all of them carefully and noticed that Iliane was watching them just as curiously.

She knew her sister would catch on just like she did. Iliane looked up at her sister, a question in her eyes that she couldn't answer. So she shrugged indicating she was just as confused as she was.

Ellie watched her sister's exchange and knew they would want to figure out the truth and she wasn't planning on telling them, ever.

Jason watched the sun slowly set. His mind was hundreds of miles away as he recalled the day he heard he would be a father.

_Ellie had woken up feeling sick. She didn't know what was wrong with her and said it had been like that for a few days. They had just arrived at the house they would be staying at for the next two weeks. _

_Concerned for his wife's welfare he took her to go see a healer. He sat outside waiting patiently for her to come out. When she didn't appear and the healer did he began to worry. _

_'Would you mind coming with me?' She had asked him. Nodding his head he followed her inside and down to the room where Ellie was waiting. Her head was in her hands she looked up when he entered the room. He could tell she had been crying. _

_Worried he hurried to her side. 'What's wrong?'_

_'Nothing is wrong persay. I'm just shocked is all.'_

_'What are you talking about?'_

_'Jason your wife is pregnant.'_

_He just sat there for a moment, not quite clear on what she had just said. 'Jason, we are going to have a baby!' Ellie said her eyes alight with something he had never seen before. _

_Of course he was still having a hard time grasping what was just said. He thought they would at least wait a few years but apparently fate had something else in mind. When it finally dawned on him that he would be a father a smile broke out on his face. 'This is wonderful!' He practically shouted. _

_Jason picked Ellie up and spun her in circles, kissing her passionately. She laughed when he set her down. 'I can't believe this.'_

_'Me either.'_

_'Congratulations, the both of you.' _

_'Thank you, thank you so much,' Jason said with a grin._

His mind slowly traveled to the night before they had arrived in the city.

_Ellie sat leaning her back into his chest. She had been silent ever since they had left the house. He remembered listening to her screams as she woke from her nightmare. Her eyes were frantic and full of fear and worry. _

_'We have to get home! We have to go now!' She had shouted to him. Now they both sat gazing into the flames. It hadn't been but two days ago that they had heard the great news. Now they were running home to save her sister's lives._

_'There is something I have to do, when we get home. I can't tell you what it is exactly or why I am doing it but you have to trust me Jason. Don't come after me, not at first. I don't want you getting caught in this as well.' _

_Jason frowned when he heard this. 'I'm not letting you go Ellie. You're with child! I can't let you just walk away from me without some sort of explanation.'_

_She turned to face him, her eyes locking on his. 'Jason, you have to trust me. I _have_ to do this. Please, I promise to return to you. Give me a week and a half then come for me, until then, don't come. Trust in me, please, that's all I ask of you. Do you trust me?' _

_His frown only increased and he wanted to say "no" but he knew he couldn't. He did trust her, he knew she could take care of herself but that didn't mean he wanted to see his wife, his love, yes he loved her, walk away from him. _

_"Jason? Do. You. Trust. Me.' her blue eyes were practically begging him to say yes. They both knew she could never turn and walk away without his trust in her. Whether they said it or not they both knew they loved each other and they would do anything to protect the other. _

_'I trust you. I trust you will come back to me and we can be together.'_

_She smiled at him. 'Thank you Jason. Thank you,' she said before she kissed him. _

Ellie entered her room to find him gazing out the window. His mind was somewhere else and she smiled slightly. Closing the door quietly behind him she slowly made her way over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his shoulder, pulling him out of his trance. "Hello," she mumbled.

"Hey, how is Nora?"

"Doing a lot better. What were you thinking about?"

"Just remembering when we heard the great news." He could feel her smile into his shoulder and grinned as well.

"I thought you were mad for a moment. You were so silent."

"I was shocked. I was hoping for a year or so together, just each other but I don't mind being a father."

"I'm glad considering the child is yours. I thought the same thing, just us."

"We'll have plenty of time together and we will be together, watching our children grow up."

"Yes, that's what counts." He turned around to face her, holding her close to him.

"I love you," he mumbled in her ear.

"I love you too."

May sat in her room, gazing out the window. She twisted the ring on her finger, her mind moving from subject to subject. Richard entered the room quietly and was surprised to see her awake. Slowly he walked over to her. He set his hand on her shoulder, letting her know that he was there.

"It was funny how things turned out. All the problems that arose and no one could figure out why. The fact that I was hurt just before you arrived. It all fits somehow. Like someone planned it to be that way. Those times where I thought I could finally be myself again, all those times I was with you. I felt like my old self again but then something would remind me of what had happened and I broke free. I kept pushing you away but always wanting you closer than what you were. Could I really ever get over it? How could I get over it? If there is a way I want to know, I want to be able to be with you and not be scared to do so," she finished quietly.

She still had her gaze locked outside not seeing the tears that ran down his cheeks. "If there is a way we can find it." He said quietly. Slowly he sat down beside her and turned her to look at him. She was shocked to see the tears in his eyes and the sorrow in them.

He pulled her into his lap and she rested her head against his neck. His fingers slowly ran through her hair. Tears slipped down her cheeks. "I hate them for doing this. Doing things to all of us." Richard didn't say anything just held her tightly.

Rian smiled as she watched Daniel working on the stack of papers in front of him. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed as he continued to work. She made her way over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hey," she whispered to him

He sat back and smiled up at her. "Hey, how are your sisters."

"Normal of course but my mom told them her 'secret'."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she told them something to cover up everything else. I don't think they are ready to know the truth."

"Well lets just hope they don't get mad when they find out the truth." Rian nodded and Daniel went back to his work. Annoyed Rian moved to sit on his lap so she was facing him. "Rian!"

"Daniel! You need a break, you've been working for five days straight. I've spent a total of two hours with you and it's annoying!"

"I'm sorry but my parents just dropped all of this on me."

"You don't even get the property for another year why now?"

"Something about needing to learn to work and all of that." Daniel said with a sigh as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Well as far as I am concerned you are done working for a couple of days. Now I want you to go take a bath then go to bed."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine just go and do get something to eat, you hardly ate anything for dinner." Daniel gave her a weak smile and kissed her. She watched him leave the room before turning to the work in front of her. With a sigh she pulled back her hair and turned her attention solely on the papers.

She didn't spend all that time with Ellie and her father for nothing. Besides it was only a bunch of stupid reports on supplies and she did those quickly any how.

Tammy and Keith were both sitting in their room, quietly reading by the fire. Her head rested in his lap and he had his feet put up on the coffee table. "They didn't seem mad," he remarked quietly.

"Well as long as Ellie was in control they wouldn't be. That I am thankful for. She always got everything done without a problem."

Keith smiled wide. "So when do we tell them about our baby?"

"Oh they are going to kill me for that one. Hiding their niece from them."

"They'll understand I am sure."

"When is your mother coming with her?"

"She was supposed to be here an hour ago, she probably just got caught up. She isn't staying though, my aunt needs her."

"That's too bad, I've really missed her."

"And she's missed you I am sure." Tammy smiled and sat up. Closing her book she set it down on the table and stretched.

"I hope she gets here soon, I'm dying to see her."

"I'm sure you are, she's missed you." When he finished the door burst open and a tall woman walked in. She carried a three year old with her on her side. "Mother."

"Hello Keith, hello Tammy."

"Hello Jessica. Hello sweetie!" Tammy said as she lifted her daughter out of her grandmother's arms. She had her mother's red-brown hair and her blue eyes but her nose, chin were her father's.

Smiling her daughter hugged her fiercely. "Hi mommy."

"Thank you for bringing her," Tammy turned back to Jessica.

"It's the least I can do for my granddaughter." Tammy hugged her before moving back into the room.

"Thanks mother."

"You're welcome son. You two be safe."

"We will!" Tammy said as she watched Jessica leave the room.

"How's daddy's little girl?" Keith said as he picked her up and spun her around.

Laughing the two sat back down and the three of them curled up on the couch together. Tammy slowly ran her fingers through her daughters hair, smiling the whole time.

* * *

**A/N: Now that was a bit fun don't you think? Well alright so that wasn't the REAL secret but its still coming, why ruin all the fun? Ne how the story is now COMPLETELY DONE! well typed up that is, it is officially 24 chapters long and that means just three more left to read. **

**Seritha**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Faces of Evil

The whole family was outside for the first day in weeks. After a large explosion from the sisters upon hearing about Tammy's child, things had finally begun to settle down again. They were a few miles from the castle, enjoying the wide open space. Nora had finally been able to move around but she had only stayed for a few hours before Erick took her home.

Ellie played with her younger sisters and her niece, Jason watching with a smile. The other sisters played and joked around. The boys all practiced sparring for the fun of it all. No one paid much attention to the approach of horses. The first to notice was Rian, who was relaxing against Daniel.

"ELLIE!" Ellie turned to look at where her sister pointed.

"Go! Back to mother!" Ellie cried to her younger sisters as she picked up Jamie. They all ran back to where the others sat. "They sure did pick a perfect day," she commented to Jason.

"Of course! The suns out, the birds are singing, the-" Ellie elbowed him and made him shut his mouth.

"You talk far too much you know that right?"

"I do but it's not _that_ bad," he said before kissing her. Ellie drew her blade and turned to face the group of riders. They stopped about fifteen feet away. Ally sat beside the hooded figure and was smirking.

"Enjoying the day?" Ally called back.

"We were until we say your ugly face," Rian snapped.

"Rian, I'm surprised to see you so grow up. Last time I saw you, you were just a stupid little seven year old."

"Last time I saw you you were being taken to a healer with a broken jaw. Amazing it still didn't improve your face."

"Why you little-"

"Knock it off Ally, we aren't here to talk."

"So my dear cousin Alisha, surprised to see you still alive after all these years." Ellie said as she stepped forward. Alisha tossed back her hood and the rest of the family gasped. Alisha was, in fact, Ally's twin sister, who everyone though had died at birth.

"What can I say, I just liked hiding."

"More like tricking everyone. You got your poor sister a broken jaw, how very thoughtful of you."

"So Ellie, tell me, how did you figure it out that it was me?"

"You may have forgotten but I knew a lot more than you did. I came across Ally the same night that the 'incident' occurred. You should really keep your twin out of the way otherwise it throws off the whole plan you had going. Poor Arthur had no idea what was going on."

"If you knew it was me, why didn't you say anything?"

"Well for one I didn't fully _know_ it was you until the whole problem at home before my wedding. I knew something was wrong when we were talking to Ally. I doubt she had any idea what had really occurred between you and Arthur. So did you ever tell her that it was _your_ idea to keep Ally from marrying Arthur?"

"WHAT!" Ally snapped at her sister.

"Hush. So you did have it all figured out. Why did you stay silent for so long Ellie?"

"Because I knew you didn't want to do this, you never wanted to. You found your mother but by then it was too late. What did he tell you that day Alisha? Come on, what did he tell you?"

"That it was your mother that had killed mine. The reason she lost her memory and that was why she left us to begin with. She was the one who brought this down on me and my sister. We promised to get our revenge. I would have gladly killed you that day Ellie and you know it."

"I know you would have Alisha but it wasn't us. He never hurt you did he Alisha? He never laid a hand on you."

"No! My father would never hurt us!"

"You're wrong. Ask Ally, ask her what he did."

Alisha turned to face her twin sister who was now pale and quiet. "Ally? It's not true is it? He never would hurt us."

"You mean _you_! He would never hurt _you_ Alisha! I wasn't so fortunate as to be blessed with dad like you. You were the one who wanted to help him in his stupid revenge. I didn't even _want_ to be in this! When he had Ellie captured he got mad at me for never going in and getting information from her so he sent _you_. It wasn't me any of this time! It was you and Tara."

"Oh of course, I forgot about the triplet. Where is Tara?"

"Here," she sneered from behind the two.

"Ah the dear cousin who tried to kill Nora in the marketplace. I hope you realize that she is doing _much_ better than before. Within a couple of weeks she will be up and moving around again."

"Not if she's dead," Tara snapped.

"What is this, return of the dead cousins?" Rian said as she came to stand by her sister.

"No this is just the truth of the matter. Ally, I know you don't want to do this and you don't have too." Laci said calmly as she stood behind Ellie. "This isn't what you want I can see that, don't do this."

"I can't not, I have too, to please father."

"It's not worth it Ally and you know it. Why would you try to please someone who did nothing but hurt you?" Laci continued on. "You've spent all this time oppressed by your two sisters so why keep doing that after this? You don't have the heart to kill us or anyone for that matter."

"Don't listen to her Ally, you are our sister, not theirs." Tara said in a loud voice. "You are with _us_ not them."

"It doesn't have to be a battle! We don't have to fight," Sara said as she stood on the other side of Ellie. "We don't have to do this. No one has to die today."

"No, that's where you are wrong! Today is the day you all die at the tip of a sword."

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Ally cried. "I don't want to see anyone die! I don't want this! I never wanted this. I'm not doing this! Father was wrong! FATHER WAS ALWAYS WRONG!" Her voice became higher. "Mother was right, he was insane. He did this to the both of you. He did this to her and he did this to me! Look at what he did to May, what he did to Iliane, Rian, Sara, Tammy, and especially Ellie! This is just _wrong_."

Ally turned her horse and headed away from all of them, moving so she could see both of them. "Ally come back here! You are not leaving," Alisha cried.

"I'm not helping you Alisha, I'll never help you. You two abandoned me! What were you thinking? Ellie, please, don't kill them."

"Don't worry Ally, no one is going to die here."

The whole group swung down off their horses. "You coward!" Tara called to her sister, who still refused to enter into the fray that was about to occur. "We will deal with this in a minute. You idiots are getting on my nerves."

Alisha and Tara both aimed to attack Ellie. With ease she blocked both shots and was surprised to see Jason taking over the battle with Tara. The rest of the sisters and men joined in the fight.

Ellie was trapped in the battle between her and her cousin. The two blades continued to crash together as they both tried to get rid of the other. "Stop this Alisha! You don't have to do this."

"Shut up Ellie! You can't stop me."

"Like hell I can't!" Ellie shoved her blade back and swung with all her might at her cousin's head. She ducked and brought her blade up at her side. Turning to the side, the blade barely missed her side. She slammed the hilt of her blade into Alisha's shoulder. Groaning she launched at her Ellie. Their blades dropped to the ground unnoticed as the two wrestled.

Her knee connected sharply with her cousin's stomach. Alisha's fist slammed into her jaw and she tossed Ellie onto her back. Rolling she missed the daggers that had almost ripped open her shoulder. Her breath came in gasps, the pain in her back coming full force. She swung the blades down wildly and managed to cut Ellie's cheek.

Ducking she rolled and kicked her cousin's feet out from under her, knocking her onto her back. Ellie lunged and managed to free one dagger. The two slowly circled each other. Finally Alisha got an opening and rammed her shoulder into Ellie's stomach. When she hit the ground Alisha droved two daggers into the ground, pinning her to the ground.

Alisha ran for her sword and lifted it up in her hands. "I've waited years for this Ellie and now it's finally going to be over." Alisha swung her blade down but was stopped by Jason's blade. She moved back and then jumped at him, her blade going into his side.

"JASON!"

* * *

**A/N: Alright well here is the next chapter, I may have to rewrite the ending it just doesn't seem to sit well with me but thanks again for reading, though no reviews for the last chapter pouts alright two chapters left! Scary to say that and slightly depressing.**

**Seritha**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: No one dies today

"JASON!" Ellie screamed as she managed to pull herself free. Getting to her feet she barely managed to catch him and the two hit the ground. Turning to look up she saw her sister aiming an arrow at her cousin. "NO STOP!" She cried but it was too late. The arrow zipped through the air and in a last desperate move, she knocked her cousin's feet out from under her.

To everyone's surprise the arrow lodged into Ellie's arm. Rian and Sara wrestled Alisha to the ground, holding her in place. Ignoring the pain in her arm she looked down at Jason. His face was pale and his green eyes dimmed. "Jason!" She cried as she lifted his shirt.

She gasped when she saw the cut. "Someone get a healer! NOW!" Ellie quickly pulled off Jason's shirt and used it to apply pressure to the wound.

"Ellie…" he said quietly.

"Stay with me Jason, don't you dare leave me now."

"Ellie."

"Jason."

He closed his eyes and took a deep shaky breath. Ellie looked up at her cousin. "Stop!" She called to her sisters. They all turned to face her. "No one dies today! Tie them all up but no one will die here today." Tears slipped down her face but she didn't care.

"Y-you h-h-have to let m-me go Ellie," Jason managed to get out.

"NO! I'm not letting you go Jason. You can't leave me like this, you can't leave. Please, please just hold on, I'm begging you."

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "It's too deep Ellie, there is no way."

"Stop saying that! Just stop right now! Don't you dare give up Jason, you can't do this to me or the baby. Don't leave me!" She was begging now and her voice cracked.

"I love you Ellie."

"No Jason! Please just hold on, please! They are going to get a healer, everything is going to be alright. Everything will be fine, just please stay with me."

He reached up to hold her cheek. Ellie wrapped her hand around his and continued to look at him. "I'm sorry."

"Jason don't! Jason please don't go, please! You can't leave!"

"Goodbye…" his eyes slowly closed as he slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

"Jason! NO! Please! You have to wake up!" She cried out but nothing happened. She broke down and cried into his shoulder. Sara slowly pulled her away from him.

Ellie fought her but Sara managed to pull her away in the end. No one spoke the whole time and Ellie didn't care to see the healers that came to look at Jason. Her whole body shook with sobs.

Rian turned to look at all of her sisters. "Come on, we have business to attend to."

They each took one of the horses that were left and turned to leave the area. Each of them watched as Sara comforted Ellie before leaving at a full gallop.

Ellie lay asleep in her bed. Sara sat beside her, her face emotionless. She had watched Ellie cry herself to sleep and she wasn't about to leave her. Sara knew exactly where her sisters were going but she didn't bother to stop them. The only thing that mattered was if Jason would make it through this.

To her surprise the door opened to reveal the top healer in the country. He looked tired and exhausted. Ellie heard him enter the room and slowly sat up. Her whole body was rigid and her eyes were frantic.

"I've come to inform you of your husband's current condition." He took a deep breath. "I'm afraid the wound was too deep for us to do anything. He's awake right now and would like to see you but we are afraid there is nothing we can do for him." He left the room and Ellie just looked at the door.

Her mind couldn't grasp the idea of losing him and she knew she would have to face it sooner or later. "Come on Ellie, he wants to see you."

Nodding her head she slowly followed her sister to where he was being kept. She slowly opened the door. When she entered the King and Queen stood up to make their way out of the room. No one said anything and Sara gently pushed Ellie into the room before closing the door. When she shut the door she took off running for Risa's room.

Shoving open the door she found the older woman staring out the window. "I know the truth and you can save him I know you can."

"I can do it but that is if it is the right thing to do."

"How can it not be? How can you let him die like this? Tell me? He has a child on the way, he has a kingdom to rule and he has Ellie! You have to do something for him!"

"I can but everything has a cost to it!"

"Of course everything has a cost to it! Please, you have to do something."

Risa turned to look at Sara. Her face was passive and she showed no sign of what she was thinking. "I messed this up, I should be the one to fix this. Do me one favor Sara."

"What would that be?"

"Take care of my daughters, all of them."

"I-I will," Sara said quietly. The two quickly hurried to Jason's room. Ellie sat outside, her head in her hands. She wasn't crying just yet but she would be soon. He was talking to his sisters at the moment.

"Mother?" she asked quietly confused as to why she was standing there. Risa knelt before her oldest child.

"When I told you the truth I never thought it would bring us here. I would give anything to take back what happened and I can't stand by and see you lose the last of your life. You took care of your sisters and gave your life for everyone else and now you lose the only thing that matters to you in the world. This is my fault, I did this too you."

"No you didn't mother! You didn't do it."

"But I did, I let you fight a battle that wasn't yours. I love you Ellie and I have always been proud of you and Rian. You two have become more than I thought you would ever become. I only wish to see how the rest of your lives turn out to be."

"What are you saying mother?"

"Being a goddess has its benefits. I've lived too long on this world and I owe you one last thing before I go."

"What are you talking about?" Ellie demanded.

"Goodbye Ellie, take care of your little sisters for me." Risa stood and entered the room, followed closely by Sara and Ellie. Sara held her sister back. Molly and Olivia quickly left the room and Kai was the only one who remained.

"Hello Jason."

"Hello," he said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you and my daughter so I plan to fix it."

"Mother! You can't do this!"

"I can and I will, now hush." Risa set her hand on his wound and began to talk quickly and quietly in a language only Ellie seemed to understand. She fought to stop her mother but Sara and Kai were holding her back.

"You can't leave me! Mother you can't do this!" Risa ignored her and they all watched as she began to turn gold and then Jason did. His eyes rolled back and then they closed completely. "MOTHER!"

Kai and Sara were having a hard time containing her. Despite a arm in a sling she could still fight them. The light seemed to intensify greatly and it became almost blinding.

"Don't! Mother please!"

"Ellie, my time here is over. I'm not letting him die because of me." Her mother's voice was louder and deeper. When they looked at her they were shocked to see her. The only one who didn't seem to care was Ellie. Her hair was now a golden blonde color and her skin was completely white.

Jason was glowing a dark red color now and they watched as she pulled her hand back and he was completely healed. When Risa withdrew her hand he opened his eyes. Risa turned to face Ellie, who had stopped struggling. She moved to stand in front of her daughter, Sara and Kai moved to the side. Risa held her daughter's face in her hands.

"I will always be here for you Ellie, just call to me and I will be there whenever you need me. Tell Rian, Hanna, Sally, and Katrina that I love them and I'll always be there for them. Promise me you'll watch out for them."

"I promise," she said weakly. "Please don't go, please."

"I have to, it's the price I pay for bringing Jason back to you. Take care Ellie, I love you."

"I love you too." Risa kissed her forehead and was gone. To everyone's surprise Ellie's arm was healed and she looked better than ever before. Jason got out of bed and went to her. She collapsed against him, crying into his shoulder. Kai and Sara just stood in shock at the scene that had just occurred. He gently rocked her as she cried.

"Everything is going to be alright."

"Where is she?" Rian said as she came into the room. They all seemed confused by what she just said.

"She's gone Rian, she's left." Ellie whispered as she turned to face her sister.

"Why! Why did she leave us?" Rian questioned, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"To save Jason," she said just as quietly.

"She said she wouldn't leave! She promised me! You promised!" She yelled before collapsing to the ground. Ellie ran to her sister and hugged her tightly.

"MOMMY!" Sally yelled. Rian and Ellie turned to their three younger sisters.

"Mommy's gone," Rian said in a tiny voice. The five of them sat with each other, crying off and on.

"It's all over, it's finally over," Ellie whispered quietly. The battle was done.

**A/N: Alright I am not sure I liked the last two chapters but here you go the real secret I just won't tell you the WHOLE thing, I am thinking of doing another story to follow up on this one but I'm not really sure about it yet. Well it's up to you guys really if you liked my story enough that is...Well thanks for reviewing and the last chapter will but up today. thanks again**

**Seritha**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Beginning of Something New

Ellie stood on her balcony, cradling her crying daughter in her arms. She had woken up for the third night this week and went out onto the balcony. The cool air seemed to help calm her down. Slowly, she closed the doors and turned to look up at the stars. "You plan to ever come see your granddaughter?" She called to the stars.

"I was planning to actually," Risa said from behind her. Ellie turned to smile up at her mother. She was back to her normal, non goddess form. She gently took her granddaughter from her arms. "She's a beauty."

"She is." Ellie commented quietly. "He's remarried."

"I knew he would in the end. We were never really firmly attached to each other to begin with. I'm glad though, he needed someone who could take care of him."

"You were too busy watching over us to pay attention to him. Did you ever tell him the truth?"

"That Sally, Hanna, and Molly weren't his kids? I did, eventually. Have they been to see their father?"

"Yes, he lives inside the city and he's taking care of them. Its better this way I suppose, they are still close."

"How is your sister doing?"

"She's doing as well as she can. She still wishes that she could have at least said goodbye to you. You should go see her, preferably when her child comes, it's only fair."

"I will, I owe each of them that. How is Nora?"

"Fully healed and back to her normal self. I think all of my sisters are out on their honeymoons. They said it wasn't fair that they didn't get theirs. So they all packed up and left. The castle's been so quiet since they left."

"Well there will always be days when it will be _too_ loud. Just as long as you enjoy all the time with your sisters."

"I always do mother." Risa smiled and handed Ellie her baby.

"She'll make a fine queen one of these days."

"Yes, yes she will."

"Go, enjoy the life you have."

"I will, thank you mother."

"Any time sweetheart," Risa smiled and disappeared.

Ellie headed back inside and set her daughter back into her crib. She crawled into bed and curled up next to Jason. His arms snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer. "Had a good time talking to your mother?" Jason asked smiling.

She turned to look at him and smiled. "I did, she came to see her granddaughter." She kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Good, good, I was wondering when she would come to see you."

"What?"

"Well she's already seen Kay and she just hadn't gotten to see you yet."

"You mean she came to see you and not me?"

"She tried but you were asleep. We thought we would keep quiet about the whole thing." He whispered quietly.

She pushed him away. "That's mean you know that right?"

Jason laughed and pulled her back to him. "Well you still got to see her. She tried to come see you and she couldn't. Just be glad you did get to see her." She huffed and rolled him onto his back.

"Would have been nice to have been informed," she mumbled as she curled up against his side, resting her head on his chest.

"I know," he mumbled as he kissed the top of her head. "Your sisters will be back tomorrow."

"Oh great, there will be no quiet now."

"No but that's what makes life exciting." She smiled slightly before falling asleep.

"Wake up Ellie!"

"Go away Laci!" Suddenly Ellie toppled out of her bed and hit the ground with a resounding thunk. Groaning she got to her feet. "LACI!"

"I told you to get up now get up!"

"You're back one day and I we are already back to _this_."

"That's what makes life interesting."

"To who exactly?"

"To all of us!" Sara said from the doorway. The two sisters turned to see the rest file in.

"ELLIE!" Rian cried as she tackled her older sister.

"RIAN!" Ellie said with a laugh. The rest of the family smiling. "It's good to have all of you back," Ellie told them.

"It's good to be back." May said quietly.

"It's just good to be around each other again," Tallie said.

"Be like it used to be," Nora put in.

"After all-" Talya started.

"-we are family," Anne finished.

"That's right, we are one very large family!" Rian said with a smile. "GROUP HUG!"

"Oh no!" Ellie cried as they all tackled each other.

"Come on everyone is waiting!" Kai called from the door.

"Food!" Rian cried. With that they all hurried out of the room, running outside into the courtyard. A large table was set up outside for everyone to sit at. It was the first dinner with the entire family in months. Ellie dropped into Jason's lap and he laughed.

"Hello love,"

"Hello!" She said brightly as she kissed him. "Where is our baby at?"

"My mother has her."

"Oh good," she said as she kissed him again.

"Alright knock it off you two, people are trying to eat!" Laci said with a smirk.

"I believe she just told us what to do! Can you believe the nerve of these people?" Ellie said with a smile.

"You're right they should be beheaded for their insolence!" Jason said with a smirk of his own.

Laci stuck her tongue out at the two and turned to talk to Arthur. "Nice job."

"Well I learned from the best."

"Ellie! Jason!"

"Kelly! James! It's so great to see you two again!" Ellie said as she went to hug the older woman. "We didn't think you'd be able to make it."

"We almost didn't. Jeremy was sick and we couldn't find someone to watch him."

"Well you didn't have to come if he was sick."

"We needed to get out of the house for a while."

Ellie and Kelly took their seats and continued their conversation. When dinner was done the family moved to enjoy their time. Jason sat against one of the trees, Ellie leaned back against him, cradling Kay in her arms.

"This is how its supposed to be," he whispered in her ear. "All of us together."

"And that is how it's going to stay," Ellie said as she watched her family before her.

**THE END! **or is it?

* * *

**A/N: I know it was short but you know I thought it would work as best as it could I suppose. Well that is all for this story unless I feel like throwing in some random scene at the end. I am still not sure about a sequel to this, I suppose my faithful reviewers will give me some sort of clue as what to do. Thank you my reviewers:**_ lovely forgotten, bioncarbinson, famOus, Eastern Star, Cat and Mouse, LittleFlowerLei, Horsey101, tam-tam23, Nelarun, Riegirl, kyra-maRia, Bryony Caston, and Cinnamon-sg_ **You've all been wonderful and thank you all so much for reviewing my first story! It has been a pleasure writing for you.**

**Seritha**


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